Are You Afraid of the Dark
by TheLokiExperience
Summary: The Connor siblings are used to the supernatural. After all, that's what they are. But something stranger than usual is happening. Kids are going missing around Beacon Hills, turning into things that shouldn't even exist. Then Ellie Connor, the youngest, starts having nightmares about people in masks, drawing her entire family into a terrifying dilemma.
1. Crazy Beacon Hills

**Chapter One: Crazy Beacon Hills**

* * *

 **A/N: Sooo those who are on Tumblr know this has been in the works for a little while now! Without further ado, here's the first chapter. There are multiple pairings within the story - Jordan Parrish/OC, Lydia Martin/OC and Stiles/OC with a side of Theo Raeken/OC. Please leave a review, feedback is always welcome :)**

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Ellie Connor lugged her suitcase into the house, thinking on how good it felt to be home. Sure, Germany had been absolutely amazing for the past year – but it had never been Beacon Hills. Strange, crazy Beacon Hills, where weird shit was always happening. She glanced over her shoulder as her mum, Lara, entered with the rest of her luggage. Her older brother Tate was sprawled on the couch with the TV blaring – pretty typical.

"Need a hand?" Bree trailed down the stairs, glancing between Ellie and Lara.

"Hey, Bree." Ellie smiled, walking over and throwing her arms around her eldest sibling. Bree patted her back a little awkwardly, before releasing her so that Tate could pick her up and swing her around. Ellie shrieked and kicked her legs, but her brother had almost a foot on her. He grinned and ruffled her blonde hair, making her scowl and pat it down again.

"Ellie."

The man – or rather, werewolf – who entered the lounge room had many names. Deucalion was one of them. The Demon Wolf was another. But around this house, he generally went by 'Dad'. Ellie ran at him and hugged him tight, a bit shocked to realise he could actually see her. Her dad had been blind since she'd been a small child, a crime committed by a hunter named Gerard Argent. Yet he was looking right at her now, and not with his werewolf eyes.

She wanted to ask him how it was possible, but was interrupted by Lara bringing out a pot of her favourite tea. She poured herself a mug of it, wondering what exactly had been happening in her absence. Tate had immediately gone back to watching TV, the novelty of Ellie's return wearing off fast.

"So, do I look any more tanned?" Ellie spun in a circle. She was definitely going to need some things explained to her – it looked like she'd missed out a lot in the past year, including the reason for her dad's miraculous returned vision.

"Not really." Tate looked over from the TV. "Still pasty."

"Why does it matter?" Bree asked irritably.

"Um, it was just a question…" Ellie wasn't sure why her older sister seemed so hostile about the fact that she'd come back home. Everyone had known her trip to Germany wasn't permanent – a year-long exchange that she'd done through the school. She glanced at Tate. "Has she always been so antisocial?"

Tate shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, it isn't new."

Bree looked up from her phone. " _She_ is right here."

Ellie nodded stiffly. "Noted."

"I'm going out for dinner." Bree grabbed her jacket, looking pissed off. "I'll be back tonight."

Lara frowned. "I thought we agreed we were going to have a family thing once Ellie was back."

"You, Dad and Tate agreed to it," Bree argued. She still didn't sound thrilled. "I didn't agree to anything."

"Yeah, Mum." Ellie couldn't help the sarcasm, a bit stung by the way her older sister was acting. "She's not centre of attention anymore, why hang around?"

Tate glanced between the two gleefully. "Meow, is it bitch o'clock already?"

"I've never been centre of attention." Bree folded her arms, blue eyes accusing. "That's your job."

"Um, I'm back from a year overseas." Ellie didn't know why Bree thought that. "Sorry that people actually care."

In all honesty, she'd always paled in comparison with her siblings. Both of them were supernatural creatures – Bree an ondine like their mother, and Tate a werewolf like their father. Just having turned eighteen, Ellie still hadn't developed any abilities, leading her to believe she was boringly human. Bree didn't even bother responding, grabbing her keys and wallet from the kitchen bench and walking out.

"Seriously, what is her problem?" Ellie looked to Tate for answers. That was the beauty of having two siblings – one of them was generally bound to side with you.

"That time of month?" Tate shrugged his shoulders. "By that I mean shark week, not the supernatural kind."

Deucalion glanced between his two younger children. "You two don't help the situation."

"By what, being home?" Ellie planted her hands on her hips, instantly defensive. "She was cranky the second I got here, jeez."

"You could've been a bit nicer," Deucalion suggested.

"What was I meant to do, throw her a parade?" Ellie snapped. She hadn't expected her family to fawn over her, but it would've been nice for her sister to actually be a little happy that she was home.

Tate smirked. "She might have liked that, yeah."

"Whatever." Ellie tossed her hair back. "I need someone to take me to Senior Scribe tomorrow night."

"Tate?" Deucalion glanced at his son, still taking up most of the couch. "Your mother and I have plans."

Tate didn't even look away from the TV. "Nah dude, I've got a study session."

"Tate." Deucalion's tone was final. Ellie had totally forgotten that her brother was even at university. He was studying engineering, which had surprised everyone in the family once they'd realised he was smarter than the disinterested front he put on.

"I can drop her off, but I'm not picking her up." It didn't surprise her in the slightest that Tate was backing down. It generally tended to happen when it came to Deucalion. Their dad looked at Ellie.

"You'll have to ask your sister."

Like Bree would help her. "Great, looks like I'll be walking home."

* * *

" _Ellie_!"

The piercing shriek made the blonde girl whip around to see a redhead running towards her. She shrieked in response, throwing her arms around her best friend. Everyone looked at them like they were crazy, but Ellie didn't really care. It had been a year since she'd seen Lydia Martin, and two-hour Skype conversations definitely didn't cut it. She drew back to examine her closely.

"I've missed you so goddamn much."

"Excuse me, when did these happen?" Lydia pointed a finger almost accusingly at Ellie's chest, and the blonde had the grace to flush. It was true, at the age of sixteen she'd been pretty flat, and now she had…well, boobs. "I'm so glad you're here! I'm just waiting for Scott and Kira and the others…"

"Wait, what?" Ellie wrinkled her little nose. Scott McCall? She knew the guy vaguely, but he and Lydia had definitely never been friends. She had no idea who Kira was, and guessed she must be new. "Okay, you definitely have a lot to fill me in on."

"You do know that your dad is…" Lydia trailed off, and Ellie remembered that her best friend hadn't had any idea about the supernatural world before. Very few people at school did, and Ellie being pretty much human made it so much easier for her to hide her freaky family. Now it seemed like somehow, Lydia had become educated about all of this.

"An alpha werewolf? Yep."

Lydia looked offended. "You never told me! What about your mum, is she…?"

"A faerie." Ellie nodded sagely. "To be specific, a water faerie, otherwise known as ondine."

"Elizabeth Connor!" Lydia hissed as they leaned against the wall to wait for the others to arrive. Ellie didn't really know who they were waiting on, because apparently Jackson had left and Lydia definitely didn't seem to be hanging with their old clique. "Your entire family is supernatural and you didn't tell me?"

"How did you even find out?" Ellie replied, taking care to keep her voice low so that people heading in through the doors didn't overhear their conversation. "You would've thought I was the biggest freak, let's be real."

"It's a long story," Lydia raked back her auburn hair. "But to shorten it…I basically got bitten by a werewolf called Peter Hale and it turns out that I'm a banshee. So anyway, if your parents are both supernatural, what does that make you?"

"Boringly human." Ellie sighed heavily. This question popped up a lot. Was she ondine like her mum, a werewolf like her dad? People always seemed disappointed with the answer, much like Ellie herself was.

Ellie leaned her head back against the brick wall and realised there was a lot more she'd have to catch up on. Yeah, she'd heard from Tate about her dad's homicidal rampage – and how he'd significantly chilled out since then. But it looked like a lot more than just that had occurred in Beacon Hills if suddenly her best friend was a banshee and was hanging out with the former school outcasts.

* * *

Bree flipped through the pages of her textbook as she sat waiting in her car for her sister. She shifted so her feet were resting on the dash as she chewed on a piece of red liquorice. She glanced up at the school, noticing her sister flirting with one of her classmates. Bree flashed her lights at her sister, wanting her to hurry up so that they could go home and she could continue to study.

"How was it?" Bree asked as Ellie slipped into the passenger seat, dumping her bag at her feet.

Ellie shrugged as she tugged her seatbelt on. "It was good. Did you see that guy I was talking to? He's hot as fuck."

Bree raised an eyebrow before glancing back at the boy. He was standing where Ellie had left him, texting on his phone. Bree didn't like the way he styled his hair, or the arrogant expression on his face. "He looks like a dick."

Ellie frowned, glancing up from her own phone. "How can you tell if someone's a dick by looking at them?"

"You just can." Bree shrugged as she pulled out of the parking spot, setting off towards their house.

"No you can't. Regardless, he's hot." Ellie argued, looking through the photos on her Instagram and posting one of her and Lydia from the Senior Scribe. "I think I've figured out why you're uptight at the moment."

"Yes?" Bree didn't even want to bother arguing with her sister about her not actually being uptight.

"You're not getting laid, huh." Ellie leant back, sticking her feet up in the dash, grinning at Bree as she frowned. "I think what you need is some good sex."

Bree shook her head, turning down their street. "And you would know how…?"

"Well, from what Tate says." Ellie pointed out.

Bree groaned upon hearing that, pulling up outside their house. "I don't want to know where it has been…"

"Neither do I. Probably everywhere." Ellie shrugged as she got out of the car, stretching.

Bree got out as well, locking the car and walking into the house, flicking on the lights. "No one else is home yet."

"Why, where is everyone?" Ellie frowned, glancing around. Her parents and Tate hadn't mentioned that they were going to be out.

"I don't know." Bree shrugged, before heading up the steps, calling out to her sister over her shoulder. "I need to study. Call me if you decide to try and burn the house down."

* * *

It had been a little awkward for Ellie when Lydia had to explain who Allison Argent had been. She'd come to school just after Ellie had left, and had died recently fighting some supernatural creatures called oni and a nogitsune. Ellie's head was reeling from everything that Lydia had told her. She thought she'd known the supernatural world, but Beacon Hills was really something else.

"Hey."

A male voice drew Ellie from her thoughts as she stood at her locker, collecting some books for her next class. It was the really hot guy she'd been talking to at Senior Scribe, the new one. Theo Raeken, that was his name. Once his interest wouldn't have made her think twice – being part of the popular clique meant guys were always too eager to hit on her and Lydia. But now she wasn't, so she was a little suspicious.

"Theo, right?"

"Yeah." He leaned against the locker beside hers. "You're Ellie, I think? You're new here, yeah?"

"Guess you could say that." Ellie shut her locker. "I was on exchange for a year in Germany."

"How was it?" Theo folded his arms over his chest, and Ellie couldn't help but be momentarily distracted by his muscular arms.

"It was really different," she admitted. "I speak German really well now."

"That's a bonus." He flashed her a grin. "Maybe you could teach me sometime."

Ellie didn't miss the fact that Lydia was giving her a triumphant, smug look. She ignored her best friend, keeping her attention on the guy in front of her who was most definitely flirting with her.

"I might be able to do that." She tucked a strand of light blonde hair behind her ear.

"You free tonight?" Theo asked, the question making Ellie's stomach twist in both a good and bad way. "Want to catch a movie?"

She couldn't help but laugh. "You don't even know me."

He shrugged. "Good chance to get to know you."

Ellie smirked. "If you can pick what sort of movie I like, deal."

"Let me think on it," Theo said, offering her a grin before he wandered off. Once he was out of earshot, Lydia stepped in front of her best friend with a knowing look.

"He so wants you."

"Lydia!" Ellie hissed. She had to admit that her friend was probably right. She didn't know why Theo had taken such a sudden, intense interest in her. Most guys who thought Ellie was hot weren't bold enough to ask her on a movie date the second time they'd seen her.

"What?" Lydia's tone was innocent.

"He doesn't know me, he's only met me once before." Ellie chewed at her lip, before narrowing her green eyes at her best friend. "I swear, if you tell him what movies I like…"

"My lips are sealed." Lydia made a zipping and throwing away the key motion. "Yours however…"

Ellie frowned. "What's that meant to mean?"

Lydia winked. "Make sure you use condoms."

"I'm so not having sex with him," Ellie protested. In truth, she was actually still a virgin. Sure, there'd been plenty of hot guys and girls in Germany, but Ellie hadn't been interested in hooking up. Now that she was back in Beacon Hills though…

"You so will," Lydia assured her.

* * *

Bree looked up from the patient chart in her hand as someone stepped in front of her. That someone was a rather attractive guy who looked to be around her age. "Hey. I think I'm ready to be discharged."

'Has anyone examined you?" She questioned as she put the charts down.

"Yeah, Mrs McCall." He nodded, raking a hand through his hair.

Bree nodded, glancing at the discharge papers that were sitting on the desk. "What was your name again?"

"Jordan Parrish." He told her, watching as she frowned.

"Your papers aren't here." She told him, glancing back at him. "Mind if I take a look?"

Jordan shrugged, following as she led him to a room, grabbing his chart on the way. "Alright."

"Shirt off, please." Bree ordered, looking over him as he removed it. She stepped towards him, having a closer look at his torso.

"Do I look okay?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as she continued to examine him.

"Your recovery speed is remarkable." She muttered, running her fingers over where his injuries had supposedly been. She drew her hand away as he flinched slightly under her touch. "Did I hurt you?"

"No, your fingers are just cold." He assured her, grabbing his shirt and pulling it back on as she scribbled down on a piece of paper.

"I get told that a lot." She smiled, glancing at him as he chuckled. She was still curious as to how he had healed so quickly. She knew there were a lot of supernatural creatures around, but she hadn't realised he was one of them. "You were admitted two days ago and you've practically healed completely. How is that possible?"

"Maybe I'm just really lucky." He told her, getting to his feet.

Bree moved in front of him, looking over his eyes. "What are you?"

Jordan frowned at the comment, not quite sure what she meant. "Excuse me?"

"You're obviously not human." Bree told him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well?"

"I don't know." He sighed, scratching his head. "What are you?"

"Ondine.' Bree told him, figuring that he was one of the people who Ellie's little friends had been running around with.

"What exactly is that? I'm a little new to all of this." He told her as she led him out of the room, taking his paperwork with her.

"Water fae." She explained, putting his file down on the desk and pushing the loose strands of hair from her eyes.

"Wow." He nodded slowly. "That's cool."

"Thanks." Bree smiled, before handing him a form to sign.

"So, am I good?" Jordan asked, glancing over the papers.'

Bree leant back against the desk, handing him another piece of paper. "Yeah. You're good."


	2. The Hunt Has Just Begun

**Chapter Two: The Hunt Has Just Begun**

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 **A/N: A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has favourited, followed and reviewed so far! You're all amazing, it means so much that people are interested in this story :) Hopefully you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Ellie surmised that Lydia must have told Theo exactly what kind of movies she liked – because there was no way he'd magically guessed that _The Blair Witch Project_ was among her favourite movies. She made a mental note to chastise her best friend later, but right now, she wasn't complaining at the fact that she and Theo were curled up in comfortable silence on his couch. Every now and then, Ellie would help herself to some of the sweets she'd brought over with her.

Theo had slung an arm around her shoulders, and she'd been a little surprised again at his boldness. She hadn't been overly astonished at the fact that his parents were out, though. She raised her eyebrows when he realised that he was looking at her. She hadn't exactly picked a boring, uneventful movie.

"What? You're staring."

"So." He grinned, eyes doing a none too subtle rake of her body. "You're cute."

"You're pretty hot," Ellie responded, because she would've been lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. "Is that why you wanted to watch a movie with me? Because I'm cute?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Why else?"

Ellie wasn't quite sure what she thought of Theo yet. Apparently he'd gone to primary school with them, but she didn't really remember him that much. Not that she would have even hung out with him at that stage. Yet, why was he hitting on her? Lydia was gorgeous, and totally available. Even if he was attracted to her, things were definitely moving pretty fast. They'd been chatting at the Senior Scribe the other night, and now they were curled up on his couch.

"Does 'watch a movie' involve things other than watching a movie?" Ellie asked. Maybe Lydia was rubbing off on her already. She wondered if her best friend knew that she was still a virgin after Germany. She wondered if it mattered to Lydia either way.

Theo's eyes flicked to her lips. "If you want it to."

Ellie tilted her head to the side. "I guess that depends on whether you're good at taking initiative."

Theo kissed her, just like she knew he would. She kissed back, softly at first, testing the waters. He pressed closer, and she scooted backward so she was leaning back against the arm of the couch. Theo leaned over her, kissing her with more intensity this time. Ellie couldn't help but gasp when his hands found their way to her waist, tugging her tighter against him. When she drew back, he was smirking.

"You look really amused," she declared, before being silenced by Theo's lips trailing down her neck. She took another sharp breath as she felt his teeth graze against the tender skin, very lightly. Ellie let her own hands roaming, marvelling at how muscular Theo's chest felt through the thin fabric of his shirt.

"You could just take it off," he suggested slyly.

Ellie slid her hands under his shirt and pulled it over his head. He was just as impressive as she'd hoped without it, and she couldn't help but admire his muscular physique. She knew it was shallow to be attracted to someone's body, but she barely knew Theo, so it was going to have to do for now.

"Damn."

Theo chuckled, before his lips were on hers again. Ellie could hear the movie in the background as they made out for a couple more minutes. The only sensation she wanted to focus on right now was Theo's lips against her, the passion he was kissing her with. Her hands rested on his bare shoulders, and she felt him smirk against her lips. She heard her phone buzzed and gently pushed Theo off her.

"My sister will probably be here to pick me up soon."

"Fun," Theo said mirthfully, although he did look a little disappointed. Ellie sat up and fixed her shirt, which had rolled up because of his body pressed against hers. Next time, she would probably have to wear a bit of a sexier bra.

"We could do this again sometime maybe," Ellie said, before realising that probably sounded really lame. She checked her phone and sure enough, there was a text from Bree. Great.

Theo smiled. "Sure."

* * *

Bree licked the ice cream off her spoon as she glanced at Tate. Her brother had been out with his friends and smelled of weed, and she was just hoping that he had some left. "Do you have any left?"

Tate glanced at her with a confused expression on his face. "What?"

Bree rolled her eyes at her brother's lack of intelligence, which wasn't really true. He was smart, not as smart as her, but smart enough to be doing engineering. "Weed, you dipshit."

"You don't even like weed." Tate commented, making his way over to her and taking the half empty ice cream tub and spoon from her.

Bree watched him, getting to her feet. "Do you have any?"

"Nope. All out." He answered her in between mouthfuls of ice cream. Bree scrunched up her nose, wondering how her brother could eat so much all the time, but she supposed it was due to him being a werewolf.

"Damn." Bree sighed, wandering into the kitchen.

Tate shook his head, following behind her. "I repeat, you don't even like weed."

Bree sat up on one of the benches, watching as Tate rummaged through the fridge in search of something. She didn't know what it was, but if he was getting himself something, he could get her something too. "Me too, please!"

"What do you want?" Tate glanced at her over his shoulder.

Bree shrugged, not really bothered with what her brother gave her. "Whatever you're having."

Tate tossed her a beer before opening his own and leaning against the bench. "Ellie's out. On a school night."

Bree waggled her eyebrows, sipping her beer. "With a boy."

"Probably fucking him." Tate stretched, glancing back at the fridge, his stomach rumbling so loud that the both of them could hear it.

Bree shook her head. Her sister was many things, but a slut wasn't one of them. Especially not as big a slut as their brother was. "I doubt it. She's a virgin."

"There's always a first time, right?" Tate pointed out, downing the rest of his beer and flopping on one of the chairs, stretching himself out.

"She would want it to be special." She told him, stifling a yawn.

"Really? Girls want it to be special?" Tate mocked, grinning as she rolled her eyes at him. "Go to bed."

"I told mum I would pick Ellie up." Bree explained as she started to make herself a cup of coffee.

"From the boy's house? Oh please, let me." Tate sat up straight, wanting an opportunity to intimidate Theo. He didn't like the sound of him, and at least that was something that he and his older sister could agree on.

Bree finished up making her coffee, sighing happily as she sipped the bitter substance. "Mum asked me."

"Yeah, but I'm more intimidating." Tate pointed out, raking a hand through his hair. "What time's kiddie pick-up?"

Bree checked her phone before letting out a heavy sigh and grabbing her keys. "Now.'

* * *

Tate was an expert at procrastination. Studying engineering was bullshit a lot of the time, and he definitely couldn't do the study part of it without a caffeine kick. Luckily, there was a coffee shop around the corner from his place that made stuff that didn't taste like crap. He sauntered in and wasn't surprised that the staff recognised him – he was around pretty much every week, after all.

There was a bit of a line. Tate shoved his hands in his pockets. He recognised the auburn-haired girl in front of him in line, and was a bit shocked she wasn't at school. Lydia Martin, Ellie's best friend. He watched as she ordered her drink, before striding over to her once he'd placed his own order. He made no effort to disguise the fact that he was checking her out. He'd thought Lydia was pretty hot for a while now.

"Well, well. What's up, sweetheart?"

"You're Ellie's brother, Tate," Lydia remarked, almost as if she hadn't known that. Tate almost scoffed. Of course she knew who he was. He was only two years ahead of them, and he'd hung out with the popular clique when he'd been at Beacon Hills High School. There was no way she didn't know him.

"Sure am." He tipped her a wink. "Bet you've seen me around before. I used to go to Beacon Hills High, too."

Lydia mocked a thoughtful expression. "No, I don't think I have."

"Yeah, I didn't really attend classes much." Tate smirked, before gesturing to the takeaway mug in her hand. "What sort of coffee?"

"Vanilla latte." Lydia tilted her head to the side, seemingly confused as to why he was talking to her. He didn't pick her as the type to skip class, so realised she must have a free period if she was down at the coffee shop.

"Can I try?" He took a sip as she handed it over, licking his lip and handing it back. "So. You know about the supernatural now."

"Yep, figured out what I was around the same time your dad went on a homicidal rampage," Lydia said coolly.

Tate grimaced. He tried to forget about that. Deucalion and Lara had fought pretty much non-stop when all of that was going on. She'd almost left him and everything, but things had calmed down a lot when Deucalion had his sight restored. Lara had been a lot more impressed with his behaviour since. Nonetheless, it was a sore topic for the family – except Ellie, who'd been in Germany at the time.

"Sounds about right. So you know I'm a werewolf too then, right?"

"Mmhmm." Lydia nodded. She took a sip of her vanilla latte. "Your mum's fae, right?"

"Same with Bree," Tate said. It had always been annoying for Ellie that she'd been human. Both of her siblings had started to develop their abilities when they'd been extremely young, so either Ellie was a very late bloomer, or the supernatural gene had just skipped her completely. Tate thought the latter, although he didn't say that to his sister, knowing it was a sore spot for her.

"I should head off." Lydia raised her eyebrows coolly at him. "Please warn me next time anyone in your family is contemplating pulling some crazy stunt? I'd rather not get involved in it."

Tate laughed. Right now, he was probably the craziest one in his family, and he was pretty sane. "Sure thing."

* * *

Bree skimmed through her Instagram feed as she waited for Jordan. The two had kept in contact after meeting at the hospital, well, Bree had slipped him her number in hopes he'd message her and he had. Part of it was because she wanted to know what he was, considering he didn't even know himself, and the other part was because he was more attractive than most of the people she knew in this crazy town.

"Bree?" Bree glanced up as she heard someone speak her name, smiling when Jordan came to stand in front of her. He was still in his uniform, leading her to believe he came straight from work.

"Hey." She greeted, locking her phone and shoving it into her wallet.

Jordan smiled back, and she could tell he was tired. "Hi."

"How was work?" Bree asked as the two began walking down to one of the coffee shops she frequented. Between her and her brother, the two spent way too much on coffee.

"It was alright. How about for you?" Jordan asked, raking a hand through his hair as they sat down outside, across from each other.

Bree shrugged. "I have a week off so it's very good."

"So, why'd you want to meet up?" He raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair.

"Just to chat." She answered, ordering the two of them some coffee. "So. I did some digging, trying to figure out what you are and have narrowed it down to about 100 different things."

Jordan nodded slowly, and Bree could tell that he was trying to comprehend the fact that she had narrowed it down to only 100 things. It wasn't a big number to her, but she guessed it was a rather large number to someone who wasn't overly familiar with the supernatural. "Theories?"

"I can give you the list." Bree offered, knowing that it would be easier than trying to explain everything to him.

"Okay. That might help." Jordan nodded, sipping his coffee, watching as she pulled a piece of paper from her bag, handing it over to him. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." She sipped at her own coffee, licking the foam from her lips and watching as he read over the list. "Sorry, if it's creepy. I just need something to do other than studying."

"That's fair enough. Let me know if you think of anything else." He chuckled, putting down some money for the coffee.

Bree nodded. "Well, I'm happy to help you figure it out. It'll mean some dates over text books and lots of coffee though."

"I think that's doable."

* * *

"Seriously, we only made out," Ellie said for what felt like the millionth time. She could almost feel Lydia's doubt radiating through the phone. She'd been on the phone to her best friend for almost ten minutes and Lydia was trying to extricate every tiny detail – not that there was much to tell.

"But did you want to do more?" Lydia pressed.

Ellie sighed and glanced over at her desk. Since getting back, she'd been making an effort to get everything together to make sure she was focused and dedicated to her senior year. Her pastel stationery matched the rest of the pastel colour scheme of her room. A relationship hadn't exactly been part of the senior year package deal, and besides, she didn't even really know Theo.

"Lyds, come on. I barely know him."

"Doesn't mean you can't want him," Lydia said, and Ellie rolled her eyes as she sipped at her ice tea and went over her notes from the school week. "But I have the feeling that you're so quiet because you haven't done anything like that. Right?"

"Right," Ellie admitted, raking back her blonde hair. It wasn't like it was that big a deal – Ellie knew that Lydia had lost her virginity to Jackson when she'd been sixteen, but Ellie had never exactly been crazy about relationships and sex. She was more focused on her art and photography, and getting passable grades.

"Hey, I saw your brother earlier," Lydia said, and Ellie was slightly relieved for the change of subject. "I totally didn't realise how hot he was."

Ellie groaned. Tate had mentioned in passing that he'd seen Lydia at the local coffee shop earlier – but she'd been too busy having a yell at their dad about the whole Demon Wolf stuff, even if it had been ages ago. The last thing she wanted to think about was her brother and her best friend checking each other out. She and Lydia had joked about being as close as sisters, but that didn't mean she literally wanted her to be her sister-in-law or anything.

"Ew."

"Anyway, I've got to go and actually do some study." Lydia heaved a sigh, and Ellie turned her attention on her own forgotten notes. "But, I expect to hear much more about this Theo Raeken very soon. _Especially_ if it's not going to be a once off."

"Goodbye, Lydia," Ellie said in a sing-song voice, shaking her head as she hung up on her best friend. She loved the girl, she really did, but sometimes Lydia just didn't know when to quit.

* * *

 _She was in the woods. Beacon Hills Preserve, if you wanted to be technical. It felt like it had just been raining, because the leaves were slippery and the dirt more like mud beneath her bare feet. She shuddered and rubbed her arms as a cold breeze swept through the woods, making the trees whisper. It almost sounded like they were talking to each other and, if she listened closely enough, that she might be able to hear what they were saying._

 _She was looking for something, but she couldn't remember what. She could feel the lure of it though, like she was a puppet on the string…and the puppeteer was pulling. One clumsy, hesitant footstep in front of another. Then she tripped over an exposed tree root and went tumbling, grazing her knees against some small rocks as she fell._

 _It was there, beneath her fingertips. Desperately, she started to dig, uncertain what she would find but overcome by a sense of urgency that she had to find something. Once her fingers scraped against something other than moist earth, she felt relief course through her. She had found what she had come for._

 _The necklace tinkled as she lifted it up and cleared the mud off it. It was the gold heart-shaped pendant that her grandma, Lara's mum, had given her for her sixteenth birthday. She clutched it close to her chest. It was odd that she wasn't wearing it, because since it had been given to her, she hadn't taken it off. So why was it here, buried beneath the dirt? She didn't care. She was too busy fastening the pendant around her neck with fumbling fingers._

 _Thunder rumbled overhead, and she looked up to see that clouds had gathered overhead. It was definitely about to rain. Thunder was, as always, followed by lightning – and through the blinding brilliance of it, she saw three figures walking slowly towards her._

 _Her heart thudded against her ribcage as she pushed herself to her feet, breathing frantic and uneven. Those figures were signs of danger, she just knew it. They evoked a sense of terror in her. Her locket secure around her neck, barefoot and wearing nothing more than her summer pyjamas, she started to run as the rain pelted down around her._

 _The lightning flashed again, and when she glanced over her shoulder, she saw the figures more clearly this time. All of them wore coats and boots like characters out of a steampunk novel, but that wasn't the part that perturbed her. They blurred in and out of focus. They wore metal masks and she couldn't see their eyes._

Ellie woke up screaming.


	3. Nightmares

**Chapter Three: Nightmares**

* * *

 **A/N: Again, thank you so much to everyone for the support! If you haven't found this story from Tumblr, then you should definitely check it out at lady-baratheon, where you'll find plenty of edits and gifs for this story.**

 **Just a reminder that this story is rated M. Although there hasn't been anything drastic yet, there will be sexual content in later chapters, so please bear that in mind.**

* * *

"Did you hear about Tracy Stewart?" Lydia asked as she and Ellie headed out to lunch.

"No, what about her?" Ellie frowned. She vaguely knew Tracy – the girl was in their year, and in a few of the same classes as Ellie. She was kind of cute, too. But other than that, Ellie hadn't heard anything new about her.

"She's been having some night terrors, but it might be more severe than that." Lydia took her seat at the table across from Scott and Stiles. "She threw up all this black gunk with feathers in it."

Ellie wrinkled her nose. "Gross."

Stiles was fumbling around in his bag for something, a panicked expression on his face. Ellie raised her eyebrows. She was still getting used to this social arrangement, but Scott and Stiles hadn't been anything but nice to her, and Scott's girlfriend Kira was absolutely lovely.

"Are you looking for something, Stiles?"

"My iPod." He frowned. "I swear it was in my bag and I've got study period next…"

"You can borrow mine." Ellie placed hers on the table, sliding it across to him. "As long as you don't mind my music taste, and the fact that it's bright pink."

"Thanks." Stiles popped the iPod into his pocket, before looking around the cafeteria. Theo waved to them and Ellie waved back, earning a heavy sigh and roll of eyes from Stiles. "Okay, really? No one else thinks there's something shifty about that guy?"

"Nope." Malia dropped her tray beside Stiles and took a seat. She was Stiles's girlfriend, but according to Lydia, things were a little tense between the two. She was a werecoyote, making Ellie feel that she must be the only normal human at this table. Well, aside from Stiles, she supposed.

"Well, I've got proof," Stiles said triumphantly, glancing at Scott. "I'll show you during our free."

"Really, so the rest of us don't get to find out what this proof is?" Ellie leaned back in her chair, raising her eyebrows. In truth, she was curious as to what Stiles had found out. Honestly, if she thought there was something suspicious about the guy, her mum could do some digging around.

"Basically, his dad's signature on his transfer form doesn't match the one from his traffic ticket from eight years ago."

Ellie sighed heavily. Wow, two signatures didn't match, big deal. She gestured to Stiles's pocket, where her iPod was protruding slightly.

"I need that back at the end of the day, by the way." The bell went off, and she pushed herself to her feet. "Good luck finding more dodgy evidence on Theo."

* * *

Ellie was glad that her phone had almost 70% battery, because she was getting tired of wandering the Preserve in search of Stiles. She'd texted him about five times to ask what the deal was with her iPod, but he hadn't responded. She'd been a little concerned, knowing he was usually quick to text back, and so now she was in the woods looking for Stiles and her iPod, thanks to the handy 'find my iPod' function that she'd put on both her iPhone and iPod. She glanced around, ignoring the shivers that ran up her arms.

"Okay, this is creepy…"

Ellie could see Stiles's Jeep now, and tentatively headed closer. She didn't want him to think she was a freak, but she had some really important sketches saved on there that she needed for tomorrow's Art class. Stiles wasn't alone – there was another boy with him, and Ellie was mildly surprised that it wasn't Scott. Those two were almost like conjoined twins. This kid was smaller and younger.

"Uh, Stiles?" she called. The boy with him spun around, baring his teeth and growling. His eyes flared gold, and she held up her hands defensively. Great, she'd stumbled across a baby werewolf. Probably part of Scott's pack. "Hold up, kiddiewinks."

"I'm not stalking you," Ellie insisted, "I just wanted my iPod and you weren't home, so I turned on find my iPod so I could come get it back. I was scared you'd lost it."

"Oh. Right." Stiles reached into his pocket, handing her the pink iPod. "Here."

"Thanks." Ellie took the iPod, glancing at Liam, whose eyes were narrowed suspiciously at her. She had no idea why these two were out in the woods or what they were doing, but Lydia had assured her that she'd told the group that Ellie was totally in on all the supernatural business. She doubted that baby werewolf here was part of the usual group. "Whoa. Cool it."

"What are you guys doing?" An amused voice made the three of them spin around to see Theo watching them with an amused expression on his face. Ellie raked her hair back, darting a glance at Stiles and Liam. They seemed pretty tense at Theo's sudden arrival, and it occurred to her that they might have been spying on him.

"Theo. Hi." She offered him a fleeting smile. "I just came to get my iPod. Now I'm headed home."

Theo raised his eyebrows. "Need a lift?"

"Sure." Ellie smiled sweetly, before glancing at the other boys. Stiles was glaring at Theo, while the young werewolf – Liam Dunbar, a sophomore, if she remembered right – looked more uncertain. "Also, you shouldn't growl and flash your eyes at everyone who stumbles across you. Dead giveaway."

Liam frowned. "Wait, you know?"

"Her siblings are supernatural," Stiles informed him.

"Parents too," Ellie said wryly. She made no mention of her supernatural status, or lack thereof.

Liam nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay."

"Anyway, I'll see you guys at school." Ellie trailed after Theo to his Toyota Highlander, slipping into the front seat as he unlocked it. She noticed that he hadn't commented about their conversation regarding the supernatural, leading her to believe that he probably was a supernatural creature himself. "So, what are you?"

"Werewolf," Theo said casually, starting up the car. "It's pretty boring."

"It's better than a regular human," Ellie responded, trying to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She didn't hate being normal exactly, but she just wished she could have some of the abilities her family did.

Theo glanced across at her. "Are you human?"

"Um. Yeah." Ellie toyed with the ends of her hair. "The supernatural gene just skipped me, I guess."

She gave him directions to her house and looked out the window, watching the familiar scenery rush past. She had missed Beacon Hills, despite its craziness. Yet she wondered whether Scott, Stiles and the others were really willing to accept her into their group. Sure, she knew about the supernatural, but she hadn't exactly been around for a full year. She glanced across at Theo.

"So, the other night. Was that like, just a once off?"

His lips tugged upwards into an amused smile. "We can do it more."

Ellie laughed. "So what would that make me, your booty call?"

"Or we could date," Theo suggested. "If you want to."

She nodded slowly, a little astonished at the suggestion. Things were moving pretty quickly between them, but for some reason, it didn't make her nervous. Usually if Ellie felt that a relationship was morphing into something she didn't want, she cut it off. She'd never really had a proper relationship in the past for that very reason. But for some reason, with Theo it felt right. It felt natural.

"That would be cool." Ellie offered him a smile as he pulled up outside her house. "Thanks for the lift."

"You're welcome." As she stepped out onto the grass, Theo wound down the window. "Dinner tomorrow? I'll get you at seven."

"Sure," Ellie responded without a moment's hesitation. She wasn't exactly about to say _let me check that the Demon Wolf is okay with this_ , because that would scare anyone off. She could only hope her parents didn't try and prevent her from going out because it was a school night or something stupid like that.

Theo smirked. "It's a date."

Ellie waved briefly as he drove off, before she took out her iPod to check its battery. Great, it was low. She frowned as she scrolled through the apps to realise that she in fact hadn't installed 'find my iPod' on the device. Checking her phone, she found the same thing. A little weirded out, Ellie shook her head slowly to clear her mind of any worries. She'd managed to find the iPod somehow. She couldn't even remember how, but what did that matter? Stuffing the two devices into her bag, she headed inside.

* * *

Bree shifted the items in her hand as she tapped lightly on Jordan's door. She was trying to balance cups of coffee, along with her bag and a box of pizza. She could feel her heart almost skip a beat as the coffee slipped slightly, but she managed to regain her balance, letting out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

Jordan opened the door a moment later, smiling at her. "Bree. Hey."

"Hey." She greeted, trailing into the house and putting the coffee and pizza down on his small dining table before dumping her bag on the ground beside one of the chairs.

Jordan grabbed one of the cups of coffee, sipping at it happily. "How's stuff with your siblings?"

"Crap, as always. It never changes." Bree sighed, tugging out her laptop and a notebook before grabbing a slice of pizza, her stomach alerting her to just how hungry it was. She nibbled on it while glancing around the apartment, noticing the photos of him with, who she assumed was his family, in a military uniform. "You were in the military?"

"Yeah, a little while ago now." He told her, walking over to stand beside her, taking a slice of the pizza for himself.

"You've got a nice place here." Bree observed as she sat down, crossing her legs and opening her laptop.

"Thanks." He chuckled, sitting down across from her. "So, anything new?"

"Well, I've ruled out fae." She informed him, having spoken to her mother about it all. Both of them agreed that it wasn't fae, based on the healing ability. Bree could heal, but water was needed for her to be able to.

Jordan nodded slowly, taking the information in. "Why's that?"

"Not the right kind of attributes.' She told him as she sipped her coffee. "I actually thought we could try making your eyes glow. That could help us too. Oh, and you're obviously not a werewolf."

"Okay. How can we make my eyes glow?" He questioned, and Bree could tell no one had really spoken to him properly about the supernatural.

"Pain and physical exertion." She told him, putting her coffee cup back on the table.

"That doesn't sound fun." He sighed, resting his hands on his knees and glancing up at her. "Alright. I'm ready."

"You sure?" She raised an eyebrow, not having expected him to want to try and make his eyes glow right now.

Jordan didn't even have to think on his answer as he shook his head. "No. Not really."

Bree gave him a moment before she began concentrating, drawing the water in is body to his lungs in an attempt to drown him. She flinched slightly as he began to choke, her eyes flaring blue. She concentrated on holding the water there, letting is disperse as his eyes glowed amber.

"Sorry." She apologised, handing him some tissues to wipe up the water that had fallen out of his mouth.

Jordan wiped his mouth before rubbing his temples, and Bree was worried that she'd caused him to develop a headache. "Did you manage to get anything from that?"

'Amber. Your eyes are amber." She told him, glancing down at the list they'd previously made and scratching a few things off of the list. "You feeling okay after that?"

"I'm fine." Jordan assured her, watching as she began to go through one of her books. He reached over to the pizza box, grabbing another slice and then grabbing a book for himself. "Why do you want to help?"

"I like you. And I don't have many friends." She explained with a shrug, grabbing some pizza for herself. "And it gets me out of my weed infested house."

Jordan raised an eyebrow. "Tate? Or Ellie?"

"Tate. Feel free to arrest him." She answered with a grin.

* * *

Tate despised family dinners. He would much prefer to chill out with some beer and a burger in his room with his record player and video games. Maybe some weed if he was feeling in the mood. But he hated this pretence that they were a normal family. Sure, there was some normality about them – Lara worked for the FBI, even if her investigations leaned more towards the supernatural. But then there was Deucalion's homicidal rampage the year before, which was far from normal. His parents had almost gotten a divorce over it, until Deucalion had vowed to change his ways.

A clicking sound against the wood of the stairs made Tate look up from where he was sprawled. He almost choked on his beer. His baby sister sauntered into the room in black heels and a blue dress with a V neck so low that her boobs were almost spilling out of it. She'd done her eyeliner in the way girls liked it these days. What was it called? Cat eye or something?

"Whoa. What the fuck."

Lara peered out of the kitchen, frowning tersely at her youngest child. "What are you wearing?"

"Theo's picking me up at seven," Ellie protested.

Tate rolled his eyes. This Theo guy they kept bloody hearing about. He knew teenage guys – he'd been one not too long ago. If this dude had taken an interest in Ellie so quickly after her return to Beacon Hills, he was probably only after one thing. Not that Tate could talk. He'd been with a few girls from his university lately, but he liked to think it was a totally different story when it concerned his little sister.

"You aren't wearing that out, young lady," Deucalion said tersely from where he was setting the table.

"Dad, stop slut shaming me," Ellie rolled her eyes, "It's a dress, okay?"

"You should go put some clothes on," Bree suggested.

Ellie shot her a poisonous look. "I've got clothes on."

"Gosh, Bree." Tate cackled delightedly. "Can't you tell she's trying to get laid?"

"We're having a family dinner first." Deucalion said firmly. His eyes flared red momentarily, as he often liked to do when the kids weren't listening to him. He might not resort to his Demon Wolf ways, but he was certainly one for implementing strict parenting where it was needed. Tate wondered if what Ellie was wearing made Deucalion wish he was blind again.

"Okay, for a bit." Ellie sat down, clearly not happy. "But he's coming to pick me up."

Tate headed over to the table and sprawled beside his younger sister, piling food on his plate and wolfing it down. Ellie slipped her phone out to check if she'd gotten a message yet from this Theo guy, causing Bree to frown.

"Phone away."

"I just checked the time." Ellie put her phone face down on the table. "Jesus, Hitler."

A knock at the door made Ellie's face brighten, but Tate was faster. Smirking, he got to his feet and headed for the door. It was time to meet the guy who was taking his sister out to dinner.

"Tate, no," Ellie called.

Tate opened the door, examining the boy standing there. He wasn't a tall kid, probably a similar height to Bree actually. He had a muscular build that suggested he did weights or sport or some shit like that. Tate offered the boy a grin that verged on a snarl.

"So you're the guy who wants to fuck my sister. Hi. I'm your worst nightmare."

Ellie's heels clomped angrily in their direction. "Tate!"

"Ellie." Theo's eyes locked onto the petite blonde. "You look nice."

"Thanks." She turned to glance at her family. "Mum, Dad, I'll be back later!"

Tate folded his arms as he watched Ellie follow Theo over his car. There was something about the kid that he didn't like, and it wasn't just his interest in Ellie. His sister had said that Theo was a werewolf like Tate and Deucalion, and yet…shaking his head, Tate shut the door and crossed back over to sit opposite his parents.

"I think I made a good impression," he declared cheerfully.

* * *

"Sorry about my brother." Ellie sipped at her Coca Cola as she and Theo sat down to eat at one of the local restaurants. She was embarrassed by Tate's behaviour, and glad that Theo hadn't been scared off by the older werewolf. She glanced over the laminated menu, trying to decide what she wanted while nibbling on the chips that Theo had ordered as an entrée.

"That's okay." Theo shrugged. "It happens."

Ultimately, Ellie decided on a Caesar salad. The food didn't take long to arrive, and she found herself examining Theo as he ate his own meal. His interest in her still baffled her a little. How did he know after spending so little time with her that she was someone he wanted to date? Of course, this didn't make anything official yet – Lydia had made Ellie promise she'd call the second things _did_ become official.

"What did you wanna do now?" Ellie asked as she finished her food. She didn't know if Theo planned on dropping her home, or seeing a movie, or something else. She had decided that since he'd asked her on the date, it was up to him to take the lead.

"Get ice cream?" Theo suggested. Ellie nodded, getting to her feet and fixing her dress. They went up to the counter, where Theo paid despite her attempts to give him some money for her dinner.

As they headed outside, the cool air hit Ellie hard, making her shiver and wish she'd brought a jacket. She felt Theo's hand nudge hers, and she couldn't help but smile, linking her fingers through his. There was a gelato place right down the street that Theo made a beeline for. Ellie was a big fan of ice cream, so she was glad that he'd suggested it.

"What flavour are you getting?" Ellie asked as they headed inside to peer inside the refrigerated display unit.

"Strawberry," Theo said decidedly.

"I might get lemon."

This time, Ellie let Theo pay, remember what Lydia always said – if you could get a free meal, why not? Maybe she needed to start asking her best friend about bigger things than just dates if things with Theo were going to get more serious. Something Tate said made her think, and she glanced at Theo as they headed back outside with their gelatos.

"Was what Tate said true? When he said you wanted to…"

Theo considered momentarily, before nodding. "I do."

Ellie felt the heat rising in her cheeks. It wasn't like she'd asked a risqué question. They were eighteen years old, and considering their first 'date' had been making out on his couch, what had she expected him to say? She licked at her gelato thoughtfully. She wouldn't mind seeing where things went with Theo. She could tell that Stiles didn't like him, but Scott and the others all thought he was cool, so that was good enough for her.

* * *

Jordan looked up as he was suddenly aware of a presence right beside his desk. As he looked up he was met with the sight of Bree sitting on the edge of his desk, her blonde hair pulled back tightly and out of her face. "Hey."

"How's work?" She questioned, glancing around the place as she spoke.

Jordan shrugged, leaning back in his chair and examining her. She was in workout gear, and it was obvious that she'd been working out not long ago by the way she still was panting slightly. "The usual. Have you been at the gym?"

"No, just out running." Bree shook her head. "Wanna walk with me?"

"Sure. I can take my lunch break." Jordan smiled after checking his watch, getting to his feet and following her as she wandered out of the station.

The two made their way down to a small café that was situated close to the station. They sat down across from each other and ordered before resuming their conversation about how they had been, and the usual mundane talk that people did when they were catching up with a friend. Jordan found it rather nice to have a sense of normality in his life, especially due to it being such a whirlwind of the supernatural currently.

"Anything interesting happening?" Bree questioned as she sipped at the coffee almost immediately after the waitress placed it in front of her. Jordan couldn't help but shake his head as she licked the chocolate powder and foam from her lips and the top of her coffee.

"Just a few interesting cases with some teenagers." He told her, picking at the chips on his plate. He glanced across at her, noticing her questioning gaze as she waited for him to continue. "A senior called Tracy Stewart, she's having some really bizarre night terrors."

"You think it might be something supernatural?" He could tell that she already knew his answer, and that she felt the need to ask the question to confirm her thoughts.

"There's a possibility." He told her, finishing his plate of food. "So I'm looking into it."

'If you need anything, let me know." Bree smiled as she placed money down on the table, getting to her feet.

"Thanks. How are things going for you at home?" Jordan inquired as the two started back down towards the station.

"My siblings are annoying." She answered, stifling a yawn as she did so.

Jordan chuckled as he watched her, shaking his head. "Tired from all the running?"

"And the study." Bree sighed, stopping outside the doors of the police station, pushing loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"How's that going?" He knew she was studying medicine, but he'd never really spoken with her in-depth about it before. He guessed it was because they were so caught up in trying to figure out what species of supernatural creature he was.

"I enjoy it." She smiled, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jordan nodded, glancing down at his watch. "I should probably head back."

"Alright. When do you want me over next?" She grinned, and he could tell she was looking forward to another of their research sessions, as was he.

"When's good for you?" He knew she was working night shift work currently, and didn't want her to be turning up to work tired from helping him.

"Tomorrow night?" She suggested, checking her phone briefly.

He thought on it for a moment before locking it into his schedule mentally. "Sure."

* * *

Ellie jerked aware with a strangled gasp, a sheen of sweat coating her entire body as she kicked off the tangled sheets. It had been another nightmare about the freaks in masks, three of them as always. She didn't why it was a recurring theme. Lara had always said that dreams meant something, but she couldn't exactly say what it meant when you were being pursued by three steampunk weirdos in every nightmare.

Raking back her hair, Ellie clambered out of bed and headed into the bathroom. The coolness of the tiles was soothing on the bare soles of her feet. She turned on the taps and splashed her face with cold water. Hearing movement in the corridor, she glanced over her shoulder to see Bree standing in the hallway, a block of chocolate in her hand. Obviously, she'd been up for a midnight snack.

"Why are you up?" Bree asked.

"Nightmare," Ellie said, watching in the mirror as her older sister leaned in the doorway.

"What was it about?"

Ellie sighed. "Freaky people in masks."

"Want some chocolate?" Bree waved the block back and forth. Ellie nodded, and Bree handed over the block. Ellie broke off a few pieces and nibbled at them. Combined with the cool water against her skin, the chocolate was making her feel a lot better. "Need anything else?"

Ellie shook her head. "I don't think so."

"You should try and get some sleep," Bree stated, gently taking her younger sister's arm and leading her out of the bathroom and back into her room. Ellie climbed under the blankets, and Bree tucked her in just like she had when they'd been small. Bree had loved playing mum, despite being barely five years older than Ellie. She'd treated her younger sister like a living doll, something their mum had found very cute and their dad had despaired of.

"Want me to go?"

"You can stay." Ellie shifted across so that there was room for her sister on her king single bed. The sheets rustled as Bree climbed in next to her, putting an arm almost protectively around Ellie. The small blonde girl couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips as she closed her eyes and let herself drift back to sleep.


	4. Damage Control

**Chapter Four: Damage Control**

* * *

 **A/N: Hello again! Thank you so so much as always to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to get feedback. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it's party time :D**

* * *

"I still can't believe you went on a murderous rampage while I was away," Ellie seethed as she and Deucalion headed around Walmart with a shopping trolley. Lara was setting up for the party that night, and had insisted it'd be good for the two of them to go and get some essentials. Ellie was still angry with her dad once she'd heard about what had happened in her absence.

"I lost sight of what was important." Deucalion's tone was calm as he surveyed packets of red drinking cups. "I made an error of judgment – a big one. Your mum and your siblings weren't involved in any of this, so you know."

"Did they not know?" Ellie gripped the trolley so tightly her knuckles turned white. She didn't understand how her family had either not noticed what Deucalion had done, or chosen to turn a blind eye to it. She sighed and followed her dad into the freezer section.

"They found out," Deucalion admitted, selecting a few mixed packets of party pies and sausage rolls to put in the trolley. He wouldn't meet his daughter's firm gaze. "They…weren't pleased. Your mum actually threatened me with divorce."

"Yeah, I can understand why." The words were more hostile than Ellie had intended, but she had been under the impression that her dad was a good guy. She hadn't really approved of the whole Alpha Pack thing, or Aiden's attempts to hit on her before she'd left for Germany. But she hadn't thought they would go around murdering people. His own pack had been when she'd been a child – she could understand that after they'd turned on him. But the rest…

"Elizabeth." Deucalion sighed heavily, turning to look at her. That was another thing she'd have to get used to – the fact that her dad could actually see her now. According to Scott, a dark druid had restored his eyesight. This town was definitely getting stranger. "I know that I did some horrible things. I understand that some members of the family might find it hard to forgive me. But I'm trying to be a better person."

Ellie had talked with Lara about it – well, as much as Lara wanted to share with her youngest daughter. Tate had been a casual drug user since the age of around fifteen or sixteen, but it had only been during Deucalion's rampage that he'd gone on harder drugs, choosing to shut out what was happening rather than being forced to pick a side. She shuddered. If it took a lot of weed to get a werewolf stoned, she didn't want to guess how much cocaine Tate would have been doing during those dark few months.

"I thought you were one of the good guys," Ellie murmured, staring down at the party stuff in the trolley.

Her parents had always been role models to her, having gone through so much. Deucalion had been betrayed and blinded when she'd been a child, Lara had lost her younger sister to a gruesome murder before any of the children had been born. Then there was the simple fact that Deucalion and Lara had been so young when they'd gotten together – he'd been twenty-one and she'd been nineteen when Bree was born. Ellie almost gagged at the thought of Tate being a parent.

"I was one of the bad guys then," Deucalion admitted, before he rested one of his hands on Ellie's shoulder. "But I'm not anymore."

* * *

Personally, Tate was very appreciative of the fact that Ellie had agreed to have a party for her eighteenth birthday. She'd celebrated her actual birthday about a month ago in Germany, but Lara had insisted that she do something for it. That coupled with persuasion from her friends meant that the Connor household was now occupied by around fifty or so teenagers, a lot of them being girls, some of them being attractive girls.

Tate swaggered into the kitchen with a beer in hand, watching as his mum loaded up trays with food. Lara was unfazed by how busy Ellie's party made her, probably because dealing with half a hundred teenagers was easy when you were a water faerie whose day job involved investigating murders. Deucalion had expressed an interest in attending, but Lara had gently reminded him that Scott McCall was probably going to show up, and they didn't want any unnecessary dramas. At least, not of the supernatural kind.

"Bree, can you take this outside?" Lara indicated a plate stacked high with party pies and sausage rolls.

"I can." Tate claimed the plate before his older sister. "Lydia's out there."

He offered his older sister a knowing wink, prompting her to roll her eyes. Smirking to himself, Tate sauntered outside with the plate, immediately making a beeline for Lydia Martin. His eyes roamed over her form, appreciating the dress that accentuated her curves. Unlike some of the other kids, who were crowded around the iPod dock choosing music, drinking out on the lawn or sitting on chairs and laughing, Lydia was talking to her usual group – Scott, Stiles and others who had been complete losers back in Tate's senior year.

"Damn, Lydia, you're looking fine tonight."

She offered him a small smile. "Thanks."

"Can I tempt you with a party pie or sausage roll?" He held out the plate in the group's general direction. Stiles took about three sausage rolls, Scott helped himself to a party pie and so did Lydia. Turning his attention back on the redhead, Tate gestured to his body. "Can I tempt you with this?"

"Hmm." She pursed her lips, looking him up and down. "No."

"Damn." Tate mocked hurt, before he set the plate of hot food down on a nearby table. "How's school? Acing your classes?"

Lydia tossed back her hair. "Mostly."

"How's all the banshee stuff?" Tate asked. Ellie had mentioned to him what Lydia was, and he found himself curious. He'd never met a banshee before, but he'd heard of them vaguely. If he asked, Deucalion would probably go on a week-long spiel about banshees.

"It's alright, I'm still adjusting to all of it," Lydia admitted.

He raised his eyebrows. "Does it scare you?"

He remembered his first shift. He'd known he was a werewolf since childhood, but the shift didn't hit born werewolves until they went through puberty. He had been thirteen years old, and scared out of his fucking mind. Tate could definitely understand that Lydia might be frightened about her own abilities, particularly considering banshees weren't as common as werewolves.

"Sometimes." She brushed a strand of red hair out of her eyes. Clearly, the topic made her a bit uncomfortable.

"Want another drink?" Tate inquired, earning a pleased smile and a nod from the girl. He headed back inside whistling, casting around for the birthday girl. Ellie was nowhere in sight – and Tate would easily be able to spot her, considering the dress she was wearing made her look like a human disco ball. "Hey, Mum, something's missing."

"What?" Lara looked alarmed.

"I dunno." Tate shrugged, filling up a red cup with punch. "Think small and blonde."

Bree heaved a sigh. "I'll go find her."

Tate grinned, heading back outside and handing Lydia her drink. Glancing around to make sure that Lara was still in the kitchen, he removed one of his joints from his pocket, taking out his lighter as well. He held it up, gesturing to it.

"You smoke?"

"Not really." Lydia wrinkled her nose, clearly not a big fan of weed. He shrugged, lighting up his joint and taking a puff of it. He was going to need to be calm to deal with this many drunk, loud teenagers. Lydia and her crew weren't bad, but as for the rest of them…Tate sighed, taking another puff.

"Tate!" His mother's sharp voice made him jump.

"Shit." He withdrew the joint from his mouth, hiding it behind his back as if Lara could miss the smoke wafting from it. He'd gotten a lecture from her before the party about drugs, as she'd pushed the point that if he was doing them, the kids would want to as well.

"She doesn't like it," Lydia stated, tilting her head to the side, an amused expression on her face.

"Weed?" Tate indicated the joint. "Nah, she hates it."

It was something Lara loathed that Deucalion had a level of understanding about. Although his dad still abhorred recreational drug use, he could get that the weed helped Tate remain calm around the full moon. Although in control of his shifts, sometimes the more animalistic side of Tate showed around that time of the month. Every werewolf had their ways of staying calm, and weed was his. It wasn't a great coping method, and he'd managed to cut down in recent years, but he still didn't know how fantastic he'd be without it.

Tate's attention drifted to Scott. The kid was a bitten werewolf, but he was also a true alpha, something that Deucalion had witnessed take place. It was a very rare and very powerful thing, meaning that Scott was probably just as strong as Tate, if not stronger. He waved to the kid, who waved back, expression wary. Tate couldn't help but smirk to himself. It looked like the fact that he was the son of the Demon Wolf made Scott hesitant. But Tate wasn't his dad, and Scott wasn't a threat to their family.

* * *

Ellie chewed thoughtfully at her lip as she tipped more vodka into the punch mixes that were set out along the dining table. She knew that she didn't want to get herself too wrecked, but it was her party and she was entitled to a good time. She reached back to rub ruefully at her lower shoulder blade. For some weird reason, her upper back had been unbearably itchy and sore these past few days. She screwed the cap back on and poured herself some punch, turning around to see that Theo was standing there. He offered her a smile.

"Hey," she said.

"You look amazing." Theo's eyes raked over her figure, and Ellie felt smug in her choice of outfit – a glittery silver dress with a deep V neck that meant a decent amount of cleavage was on display.

"Thank you." She grinned. "You want some punch?"

She poured him a cup, handing it over. Since they'd become an official couple, Ellie and Theo had been the talk of the school – the hot new guy and the petite blonde who was back from exchange. Most of Ellie's friends approved, although Stiles was still certain there was something amiss about Theo. She examined the drinks on the table, frowning when she realised that most of the ice in them had melted.

"Looks like we're running low on ice. I might go grab some from upstairs."

"I'll come." Theo set his cup down on the table, following Ellie up the flight of stairs. She flicked on the bathroom light, heaving out two bags of ice from the bath where they'd decided to store them. When she spun back around, there was a gleam in Theo's eyes she recognised all too well: desire. He slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her, and she smiled against his lips, letting her arms drift around his neck.

His kisses grew harder and more passionate. Ellie had guessed at Theo's intentions, and she didn't mind them at all. In fact, she actively encouraged them. Her silver heels clicked on the tiles as she backed up against the bench. Theo caught her around the waist, easily lifting her so that she was sitting up on it instead of being pressed uncomfortably against it. His hands eagerly roamed the curves of her body, lips pressing hot kisses to her neck. She couldn't help the soft moan that escaped her as he fondled her breasts through the fabric of her dress.

Ellie shifted against him, legs wrapping loosely around his waist. Theo let out a low groan, his hands drifting lower to rest on her hips. She felt warm all over as she felt his erection pressed against her through the fabric of his jeans. She shifted her hips, grinding against him, causing him to hiss and tighten his grip on her. She bit down hard on her lip as pleasure buzzed through her at the sensation.

She started as suddenly she was drenched in icy cold water. When she glanced around, she wasn't too surprised to see that Bree had been the one to soak them, having used the water that had pooled in the bath from the bags of ice. Infuriated, Ellie slid off the bench, tugging her dress down from where it had hiked up her thighs.

"Bree! I spent hours doing my hair and make-up, you bitch!"

"I'm aware," Bree replied dryly, glancing between them before walking out of the bathroom as quickly as she'd come.

"I hate her," Ellie spat, wringing water out of her hair. Her sister could just have cleared her throat or said something like a normal person. It wasn't as though she and Theo had been having sex or anything, they'd just been making out. "She thinks she's so cool, it's infuriating."

Her few minutes of pleasure with Theo were completely forgotten as she fumed over her older sister's behaviour. Bree had chosen to be spiteful instead of just getting her and Theo to quit hooking up, so now she had to stay in the bathroom and dry herself off, utterly embarrassed – but still appreciating the fact that Theo's shirt sticking to him showed off his toned body very nicely.

* * *

 _Time to do some damage control._

Tate had heard the bickering between his two sisters upstairs, and the fact that he heard Theo's voice too made him very much aware of what was going on. Obviously, Ellie and Theo were hooking up and Bree had interrupted them in a not so pleasant manner. Heaving a sigh and wondering he was having to be the one to diffuse the situation, Tate leaned in the bathroom doorway. Theo had his arms folded as he watched Ellie furiously attempting to towel dry her hair.

"What's up, kids?"

"Bree, as usual." Ellie's tone was bitter, indicating her saturated dress. "Look what she did."

Tate glanced between them, watching as Theo fixed his shirt. A smirk curved his lips. Oh, he knew exactly what had gone on here, but it didn't stop him from wanting to cause a little bit more shit.

"Trying to get some action, Raeken?"

Theo assessed him closely. "Maybe."

Tate reached into his pocket and took a condom out. Huh, it was one of the glow in the dark ones. He tossed it to Theo, watching as Ellie's cheeks flared bright red. Her boyfriend seemed nonchalant, muttering a thanks as he slipped the condom in his own pocket. Better to be safe than sorry. At twenty, Tate considered himself far too young for uncle duties.

"You're both eighteen, be responsible." He tipped them a wink, before turning his attention to his younger sister. "But Ellie, don't forget you have guests right now."

"Oh." Ellie appeared to still be a little flustered. "Yeah, true."

Tate watched his sister head downstairs, but stepped in Theo's way before he could follow his girlfriend. He could smell the arousal on the kid, not that it was exactly new – heaps of teenagers smelled that way. But he didn't want Theo doing anything that Ellie wasn't ready for, and he wanted to make that very clear.

"Hurt her, I break your bones." He offered the younger boy a saccharine smile. "Enjoy your night."

Theo frowned, his eyes narrowing and turning gold. Tate perceived the threat, and drank it in with a sense of excitement. Violence enthralled him, called to him. All part of being a werewolf most likely. The only thing preventing him from slamming this boy into a wall and proving his dominance was the fact that this was Ellie's party. Oh yeah, and most of the guests didn't know supernatural creatures existed.

"Oh, I can do that too." A feral smile twisted Tate's lips, eyes turning gold, flaring danger. When Theo attempted to move past him, the older boy caught his arm. His dislike of Theo Raeken was increasing every moment he spent in his company. "I mean it. Watch it, kiddo."

Theo's eyes went back to normal. "You don't scare me."

Tate laughed softly. "Maybe you should meet my dad."

"Is he here?" Curiosity dawned across Theo's features. Being a werewolf himself, and closely associated with Scott, Tate guessed he must have heard the stories about Deucalion. The older boy folded his arms.

"Do you want to find out?"

Theo laughed a little, holding up his hands. "I'm just curious, man."

"Have some beer, dude." Tate pointed into the kitchen. The boy was pulling the nice guy act now, acting all charming, but he wasn't buying it for a second. He had a general idea what Theo was interested in, and he wasn't going to see his baby sister hurt for some moron's sexual gratification. Tate couldn't stop Ellie from being in a relationship with Theo, but he was definitely going to keep an eye on the kid.

Tate stepped up to the wooden bannister, leaning against it and watching as Theo grabbed a beer and went off in search of Ellie. Tate's eyes flared gold again, lip curling upwards into a snarl. He was a pretty relaxed guy by nature, but when his family was involved…that was when things got personal.

* * *

"How's Deputy Parrish?" Lara asked her eldest child as she walked back into the kitchen, perching herself up on the bench and tugging her phone out. Lara immediately knew who she was messaging just by the look on her face.

"He's hot." Bree blurted out before pausing and glancing at her mother who had a look of amusement on her face. "I mean good."

"Hot, huh?" Lara raised an eyebrow, pulling more finger food from the over as the timer went off.

Bree sighed heavily. "He's so attractive, mum. And he's sweet."

"She's clearly obsessed, Mum." Ellie commented as she walked into the kitchen, her hair still dripping wet from when Bree had splashed her with water.

Lara frowned upon seeing her daughter resembling a drowned rat. "Ellie, what happened to your hair?"

"Ask Brianna." Ellie glared at her older sister, picking up a spring roll and popping it into her mouth before pouring herself some more punch. Bree was glad she wasn't the one who was going to have to be cleaning up the alcoholic mess in the morning.

Bree got herself another drink, picking up a sandwich and stuffing it in her mouth. "She and Theo were about to have sex."

"We were not!" Ellie exclaimed, and the tension in the room seemed to worsen as Ellie snapped at her sister.

"Girls, please." Lara sighed, glancing between them. Ellie stood there fuming while Bree held her hands up as a sign of surrender.

"We were grabbing some ice and made out, that's all it was." Ellie explained, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lara frowned. She knew that Tate was definitely into the hard drugs, and she was hoping that that hadn't influenced Ellie in any way. She didn't need two of her three children on drugs, especially not the seemingly human one. "Ice? Young lady, are you doing drugs?"

"No! Fuck! As in frozen water, Mum!" Ellie shouted, stomping outside when Lara said nothing and Bree began to laugh at her.

"Aw, El." Bree sighed as she followed her, her laughter dying down. She concentrated for a moment, making sure no one was looking their way as she dried her sister off and fixed her hair so it sat back in its original place. "Relax, babe. Happy birthday."

Ellie glanced down at her hand as Bree handed her a small pouch. "My birthday was technically a month ago in Germany. But thanks."

"I didn't see you there." Bree pointed out to her, and she hadn't felt confident sending the piece of jewellery via mail.

"Tate gave Theo a condom." Ellie muttered. She knew she could talk to her sister when it came to sex, whereas talking with Tate was harder. She didn't know if it was a girl thing, or because she knew Bree wasn't going to judge her or pick on her. "I don't know if, you know, if that's going to be happening tonight..."

"Do you want it to?" Bree questioned, arching an eyebrow.

Ellie chewed on her lip at the thought. "I think it's a bit fast. I'm okay with...other stuff. But maybe not sex just yet."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Bree assured her, kissing her cheek as Ellie offered her a little smile.

* * *

"How many drunk kiddies stayed over?" Tate questioned between the mouthfuls of bacon he was wolfing down.

"About 5." Bree watched him for a moment before shaking her head. "How're you feeling?"

"Me? I feel fantastic." Tate grinned at her before continuing to stuff his face. He'd smoked some weed the previous night, but he hadn't really had the desire to drink, and he also had the added bonus of a werewolf metabolism. "But I didn't drink too much."

"No, you were smoking. You're lucky dad didn't catch you." Bree pointed out, knowing exactly just how much Deucalion hated the fact that Tate did drugs.

"It's just weed." Tate reminded her, knowing that he'd done worse drugs in the past.

Bree handed him some more bacon and eggs, making herself a coffee. "I know."

"Making pancakes?" Tate watched as she continued to make food, seeing that she was running out of bacon and egg to cook.

"I can." Bree told him as she started pulling out the flour and sugar.

"You'd get my undying love." He grinned, leaning back in his chair as he finished his plate, watching her as she pulled her phone out and began to tap away on it. "You're always on that thing."

"I'm talking to people." Bree told him, glancing up at him before turning her attention back to her pancakes.

"Texting you mean. Is it lover boy or is he at work?" Tate waggled his eyebrows. Referring to Jordan as lover boy was his new favourite thing to do to annoy his sister.

"He's working tonight." Bree told him as she began to plate up the pancakes.

Tate frowned as he heard voices and stomping upstairs. "Sounds like there's a commotion going on upstairs."

A moment later Lydia descended the stairs, looking for Tate and Bree. "Bree? Can you go help Ellie?"

"Sure." Bree nodded, before jogging up the stairs.

* * *

Ellie woke the next morning to the brightness of the sun filtering through her curtains. She rubbed her eyes, glancing beside her to see Theo was already awake, yawning. Usually her parents definitely wouldn't have been cool with her boyfriend sleeping over in the same bed, but given the fact that a few kids had stayed over after the party, it had been the only space for him.

"How are you feeling?" Theo asked.

"I'm okay." She stretched out, admittedly not feeling too flash. She'd probably had a few too many drinks the night before, and considering her tiny size, it didn't take much alcohol to make her a bit tipsy…and she had been more than a bit tipsy. She noticed Theo's eyes on her as her pyjama top rode up slightly and couldn't help but smirk. It looked like she didn't need a pretty dress to catch his attention.

He pressed close against her, kissing her. Ellie draped her arms around his neck, feeling a bit worse for wear but determined to make the most of this time with him. Theo sat up, easily lifting her and propping her up in his lap. A wave of nausea came over Ellie, so intense that she couldn't do anything about it. The next thing she knew, her little make-out session with her boyfriend was promptly ended by her throwing up on his shirt.

"Ellie?" The door opened, and a concerned Lydia crossed the room as the blonde girl scrambled off her boyfriend, utterly embarrassed by what had happened. Theo looked shocked, and she couldn't say she blamed him.

"Oh god, I am so sorry," she groaned. She eased herself up off the bed, swaying slightly as her head spun. Lydia walked over and slung an arm firmly around her best friend's waist, helping her stagger out of her room and into the bathroom. It wasn't the first time that one of them had had to help the other recover from a hangover.

"Do you think he's pissed at me?" Ellie asked as she knelt in front of the toilet bowl. She had the distinct feeling she wasn't done throwing up yet. The tiles were cold against her bare skin, but she'd just have to deal with that.

"No." Lydia wrinkled her nose as Ellie retched over the toilet bowl. "Want me to get your sister?"

Ellie was too busy vomiting to reply. Lydia rubbed her back and then walked out of the bathroom. Ellie really didn't see how Bree being there was going to help. Hurried footsteps reached her ears, and then someone was holding her hair back as she threw up again. She wondered what Theo was going to think of her now that she'd vomited on him.

"I threw up on Theo," she said hoarsely.

"It happens." Bree rubbed her back, sitting on the bathroom floor with her as she stayed hunched over the toilet bowl. After a few more minutes, Ellie shuddered and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"I should change." She eased herself to her feet, Bree helping her up.

"Breakfast is downstairs."

Ellie didn't know if she could manage a full-on meal, but some dry biscuits or toast would really be nice. She offered Bree a tired smile, and braced herself for the possibility of facing Theo when she headed back into her room.

"Thanks."


	5. Stranger Things

**Chapter Five: Stranger Things**

* * *

 **A/N: As usual, thanks everyone for your support, it means so much to see so many people reviewing :) Things are going to be getting exciting very soon ;)**

* * *

Tate knew something was up the moment he saw Lydia Martin's car outside Tracy Stewart's house. The two were in the same year, but he remembered Ellie mentioning that Tracy was having nightmares, so he didn't think Lydia had gone over for a sleepover or anything. He didn't really know what drove him to investigate. Maybe it was the fact that Lydia was super hot. Maybe it was the police tape and the fact that Tate had no regard for rules. Nonetheless, he traipsed into the house, raising his eyebrows when he saw Lydia there with a dark-haired girl whose name he remembered was Kira.

"Hey there." He leaned in the bedroom doorway, watching the two girls. They jumped and spun to face him, Lydia looking irritated.

"Tate!"

He smirked. "Yes, women have a habit of screaming my name."

Lydia glared at him. "Why are you here?"

He shrugged. "Wasn't too far away and saw your car down here. I've heard about Tracy's bizarre nightmares and shit."

"And you just happened to stop by?" Lydia planted her hands on her hips, while Kira glanced between them like there was a fierce match of ping pong going on.

"Yeah, guess you could put it that way." Tate offered her a charming grin, to which Lydia rolled her eyes. He turned his attention to Tracy's bedroom, gesturing around. "So. Find anything useful?"

Lydia shook her head. "No."

"Well, good thing I came." Tate peered around the room, but even he couldn't figure this mess out. Nothing smelled unusual. It just looked like the bedroom of a regular teenage girl.

"You're not useful," Lydia said.

"I am in many, many ways." Tate smirked suggestively, before trying to recall what he knew about Tracy Stewart. "So. She killed her dad, right? Seems to me like she's killing people trying to help her."

Ellie had just told them over dinner that the girl was having intense night terrors, and that she'd killed her dad. Apparently she was some kind of kanima, a creature that hadn't been seen in Beacon Hills for a matter of months. Which was pretty much the same as centuries in their world, since crazy shit was always happening around town.

Lydia raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Meaning?"

"Well, starts with her dad, who knows who's next?" Tate peered up out of the skylight. He didn't want to mention the fact that Ellie too was having frequent nightmares. Was it possible that his younger sister's experiences were related to whatever was going on with Tracy? "They said she was having night terrors, right? Well, what if she's still asleep?"

The redhead looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Think, Lydia." Tate cast his gaze between her and Kira, who was still looking really uncertain since he'd showed up. "She's sleepwalking. She's going after people who've tried to help. Is there anyone you can think of that she might go after?"

"No, no one." There was a pause that made Tate glance over his shoulder. Alarm had slowly made its way across Lydia's face. "Wait. My mum. She's her psychologist."

"Shit. Okay." Tate rummaged around in his pocket for his car keys. "We need to find her, now."

* * *

"Hey, mum." Bree greeted her mother from where she stood beside the coffee machine. Lara had just returned from work, and Bree could tell that it had been a below average day for her.

Lara dumped her stuff on the counter before glancing at her daughter, smiling when she handed her a cup of fresh coffee. "Hi."

"How was work?" Bree asked as she sat on the bench.

Lara sighed heavily, enjoying the feeling of the caffeine entering her system. "Hectic as usual."

Bree watched, sipping slowly at her own coffee. "Anything interesting happen?"

"Not really." Lara shrugged, finishing her coffee before setting about doing the dishes. Bree opened her mouth to offer but instead of words, a yawn came out of her mouth.

"That's boring." She told her mother as she rubbed her eyes, willing her body to stay awake.

Lara raised an eyebrow, leaning against the bench and watching her eldest struggle to stay awake. "Maybe you should get some sleep."

Bree shook her head, finishing her coffee and edging past her mother to clean her mug, knowing it was best for everyone's safety in the house that she clean her own mess. Lara was definitely the scary parent when it came to discipline, especially regarding not cleaning up. "I'm meeting Jordan in an hour."

"Power nap." Lara suggested, beginning to put the clean dishes away.

"I'll be fine. Just need coffee." Bree assured her mother as she got to her feet, checking her phone to make sure that neither Ellie nor Jordan had messaged.

"How's Ellie doing? I hear she didn't sleep too well either." Lara commented, and Bree assumed she was referring the other night when Bree had stayed with her little sister after she had had a nightmare.

"Yeah, she had a nightmare. I stayed with her for the rest of the night. She really needs a bigger bed, mum." Bree informed her as she went about sifting through the fridge for some sugar. "She needs to be able to fit a boy in the bed."

Lara paused what she was doing, glancing at Bree. "What?"

"She has a boyfriend." Bree reminded her. None of them liked Theo, but they tolerated him for Ellie's sake.

"I didn't think they were an official thing." Lara mumbled, more to herself than Bree.

"They are now."

* * *

 _Wait in the car, Tate. We'll be fine, Tate._

Tate munched on his chips and put his feet up on the dashboard. He hadn't exactly wanted to go running into the police station – he was there often enough trying to charm his way out of some drug-related charge or another. So when Lydia had insisted he wait in the car while she and Kira went looking for her mum – who, funnily enough, was headed out on a date with the Sheriff.

The scent of blood reached Tate's nostrils, making him take his feet off the dash and throw his bag of chips into the back seat. That _definitely_ was not a good sign. Grabbing his keys out of the ignition, he lurched from the car and ran towards the station. The thought that Lydia was in danger got him moving, and when he barged in, he saw that she was on the ground with blood staining the side of her shirt. Tate cursed himself for not going in with the girls. He should have prevented this.

"Shit, are you okay?"

"We need to get Lydia to a hospital." A man Tate recognised to be the local vet, Dr Deaton or whatever his name was, glanced at the redhead with concern apparent in his dark eyes. "I'm going to need to take Tracy's body."

Tate had been so focused on Lydia he hadn't even realised what had happened. The girl – kanima, whatever – was immobile on the ground a few feet away. Tate didn't know if she was dead or unconscious, but he was going to put his money on dead. He felt sorry for her. Tracy was the same age as his sister. Whatever was going on with her, death should be reserved for those who'd earned it.

"I'm fine," Lydia said, but her voice was weak. "I don't need the hospital."

"No, you aren't." Tate hoisted her up carefully, making sure that he didn't nudge her wound accidentally. He wasn't very good at dealing with injured people, after all, most of his family healed. The last time they'd had to take someone to the hospital had been when Ellie had broken her arm when she was seven.

Easing open the door with his elbow, Tate headed out to his car, helping Lydia into the passenger seat. She was shivering slightly. He turned on the car and cranked the heater, wondering if Bree was working tonight. They drove to the hospital in silence, Tate checking on his injured passenger every now and again to make sure she was still conscious. He gunned it through the streets, not quite daring to run red lights but definitely heading through anything amber.

Once he'd parked his car at the hospital, Tate easily hoisted Lydia out of the passenger seat, hurrying towards the front doors of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. Lydia's injury was probably not life-threatening, but it was definitely serious. He felt pretty damn heroic as he strode into the reception with the very pale redhead.

"She's hurt, badly," Tate clarified when the receptionist opened her mouth to say something. Right on cue, Melissa McCall hurried down the corridor towards them. She took a look at Lydia, dark eyes widening.

"Okay. Follow me, we'll get her in a bed."

Tate didn't really know the woman, but he knew she was Scott's mum. Ellie said she was aware of the supernatural, so that had to count for something. Following Melissa, he swept into an empty room and set Lydia down on the bed. The redhead was definitely not looking too good, and Tate raked a hand through his shaggy brown hair.

"You're gonna be okay," he assured her, before turning to glance at Melissa. "Hi, I'm Tate Connor. Um, Deucalion's son."

"Yes, I've met your dad." Melissa's tone was clipped, not that Tate could really blame her considering she'd probably only ever seen homicidal maniac Deucalion. His heart hardened towards his dad. He was really making it tough for anyone in Beacon Hills to like him. "You're a werewolf too?"

Tate nodded. "Sure am."

"Can you take away her pain?" Melissa asked, gesturing to Lydia. "Scott does this thing where he can take away someone's pain. It might help her a bit."

"Oh. Sure." Tate slipped his hand into Lydia's. Her fingers were cold against his skin, and he closed his eyes and concentrated. He remembered doing this with Ellie, when she'd broken her arm. The tiny blonde had been crying hysterically, and it had been the first time Tate had taken away someone's pain – when he wrapped his arms around his baby sister and held her close. She'd settled down almost immediately, and Tate could feel what was happening, what Deucalion explained to him later.

Now, with Lydia, it came almost naturally to him. Once he started to feel a bit weak, he withdrew his hand. When he opened his eyes, Lydia was smiling a little. It made him feel good about himself. He didn't owe anyone in this town anything, he didn't need redemption – but he did feel a need to atone for his dad's sins. Things that Deucalion should – and would, if Tate had anything to say about it – be rectifying.

* * *

"So, you're having creepy dreams now?" Bree asked Jordan as he carried over two mugs of coffee, placing one beside the book Bree was reading.

Jordan ran a hand through his hair, sitting down beside her. "I guess you could say that."

"What're they about?" She inquired, sipping the coffee before crossing her legs and turning to face him properly.

"Bodies, mainly." He told her, leaning back against the couch.

Bree nodded, thinking it over. "Huh. Interesting."

"I'm like...carrying them." He explained, and Bree could hear the hesitation to tell her in his voice.

"That's just creepy." She admitted, hoping her tone would help to lighten the mood. "Maybe you're psychic."

"I don't think so." He frowned, raising an eyebrow when he saw her yawning, rubbing her eyes as they watered. "Tired?"

"Very." She answered, continuing to flick through the books that her father had given her to help them discover what Jordan was.

"Also in my dreams, I'm on fire." He offered up, grabbing a book to go through.

"So your abilities must be connected to that…" She mumbled more to herself than Jordan.

"Well, someone tried to light me on fire once and I didn't die." He shrugged, watching as Bree looked up at him. "What?"

Bree through her hands up in exasperation. "You didn't think that was important to mention from the start?"

"I didn't really think about it until now." He defended himself, scratching his head, before thinking of anymore important details that were hopefully going to help the two of them. "I also set the bodies down at this tree stump."

"That isn't so good. If it's the tree I'm thinking of… It's a supernatural tree." She explained to him, nibbling on the end of her pen.

"So I'm having dreams about carrying bodies to a supernatural tree?" He spoke the rhetorical question out loud, hoping that it would help him to wrap his mind around it all. "Do you think it means something?"

"Probably. We just need to figure out what." She yawned before glancing down at her phone, replying to the message her sister had sent her ands checking the time.

"What's up?" Jordan raised an eyebrow as he watched her, hoping that she didn't have somewhere to be in a rush when they were getting one step closer to solving the mystery.

"Family dinner." She told him, leaning back against the couch. Heaven forbid she was late to their family dinner; she did value her life after all.

"Are you off?" He asked, finishing his coffee.

"Soon." She smiled as she closed her eyes, stretching out happily.

Jordan chuckled as he watched her, allowing himself a moment to appreciate her body as she lounged around. "Long shift?"

"Long week." She grumbled, glad that she had a couple days to rest before having to go back to work.

* * *

It was late when Tate returned home, not surprised that the lounge room light had been left on. Raking his hair, he made an immediate beeline for the kitchen. Stressful situations tended to make him hungry. He winced at the bright light that beamed out from the fridge, but once his eyes had adjusted, he saw that there was a burger covered in gladwrap and ' _Tate_ ' written on it in his mum's neat handwriting. Smiling slightly, Tate withdrew the burger from the fridge, unwrapped it and stuck it in the microwave.

"Where have you been?"

The voice made him jump, startled. Of course it was Deucalion. He was the only one quiet enough that Tate didn't hear him coming. He was immediately on the defensive, shoulders tensing and hands balling into fists. Behind them, the microwave whirred softly as it warmed up the burger.

"Does it matter?" Tate grabbed himself a beer from the fridge for good measure. His eyes were fixed on Deucalion, daring his dad to make a comment. The older werewolf sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"Tate, these late night outings…these parties and seeing girls…it's got to stop."

"Yeah, it's almost comparable to committing multiple murders," Tate responded, voice dripping with sarcasm. The microwave pinged and he took out his burger, sitting up on the bench and starting to devour the thing. He was angry, as he almost always was when it was just him and his dad.

Deucalion didn't flinch, but he did sigh heavily. "Tate…"

"Don't even bother." Tate's voice was bitter. "You know what? I wasn't even at a party or a girl's place anyway."

Putting his plate down, Tate got off the bench and gestured to his shirt, still stained where Lydia's blood had seeped into the fabric. He wondered whether Deucalion had been able to smell it, or whether the scent of the burger had thrown him off. Tate tossed his dish into the sink, not even caring how loudly it clattered. He was through with having to explain himself to Deucalion. Drugs, parties, sex…those were nothing compared to what his dad had done.

"I was out saving lives, actually. Something you wouldn't know anything about, since you were so busy ending them."

"I'm sorry, Tate." Deucalion's voice was soft. He rarely raised his voice, even in anger. It was one of the things that he and his son did not have in common. "I committed some truly horrific acts, and I'm trying to repent for them. But right now, an apology is all I can offer."

"Well, it's not good enough." Tate stalked past his dad and headed upstairs to his room. He knew if he woke his sisters they'd get pissed at him, so he refrained from slamming the door just this once. It was too late for him to play his favourite records, so instead he rummaged around in his drawer for his weed stash. He needed to relax, and with Deucalion around, it just wasn't happening right now.

* * *

Lara wasn't an agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for nothing. She knew that something was up with her youngest daughter, and she was determined to find out what. Sure, they had never been a normal family – but some of Ellie's behaviour was concerning. She would come downstairs to breakfast, blissfully unaware of her scraped knees and dirty feet. If Lara thought she'd been sneaking out to see Theo, but she would have been pissed, but less concerned. But Ellie was actually oblivious to her state of being.

Lara had sprinkled mountain ash around Ellie's bed, just in case, but nothing had happened. In fact, the girl had dusted it up like it was never there in the first place. From that, Lara should have drawn the conclusion that Ellie wasn't supernatural, end of story. Yet, there was a feeling of unease that she couldn't quite shake. So Lara did the only thing she could think to do: she went to visit Alan Deaton.

The veterinarian was packing up his bags when she entered the clinic right before closing time, causing Lara to raise her eyebrows. It wasn't like Deaton to take a holiday. She leaned across the counter to press down on the bell, making Deaton turn around in surprise. He looked almost relieved to see that it was Lara.

"Mrs Connor. I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"It's not regarding Deucalion this time." Lara raked a hand through her blonde hair. The last time she'd visited Deaton for personal reasons, it had been concerning her husband's behaviour – but times had changed a lot since then. Sometimes, Lara questioned herself as to why she hadn't left her husband then. Maybe it was their three children. Maybe it was the fact that Lara's parents were on another level of crazy and so while his actions were horrific…she'd seen her loved ones commit worse.

"Who is about?" Deaton inquired, walking over to the door to turn the sign from 'open' to 'closed'.

"My youngest daughter, Elizabeth." Lara sighed heavily. How exactly was she meant to explain the oddity of Ellie's behaviour to someone who didn't know her too well? Deaton might just think she was behaving only slightly out of the ordinary.

"She's in Scott's year." Deaton nodded slowly. "Why are you worried about her?"

"She's been…some strange things have been happening." Lara followed Deaton into the back of the clinic, taking a seat. "She's been having consistent nightmares, not to mention sometimes she comes to breakfast with scraped knees and dirty feet. Surely her dad would hear her going out at night, but…nothing."

"Hmm." Deaton's brow creased into a frown. "Nightmares, you mean like the ones Tracy Stewart was experiencing?"

Lara's heart seemed to skip a beat. "God, I hope not."

"What are these nightmares about?" Deaton's dark eyes were full of apprehension, and in that moment, Lara knew that she wasn't the only one who took Ellie's slightly off behaviour as a sign of something a lot stranger.

"Three figures," Lara murmured, before she spoke louder. "Three figures in masks."


	6. Chimeras

**Chapter Six: Chimeras**

* * *

 **A/N: Happy Halloween, everyone! Things are about to get pretty creepy for the Connor family, that's for sure...**

* * *

Family dinners, possibly Ellie's least favourite event. At least if everyone was watching a TV show, they could shut up and pretend to get along. But at dinners, they had to discuss how their day went and generally act civil. Ellie loved her mum's roast, but right now she didn't seem to have much of an appetite. She picked apart the potatoes, rolling them around in gravy before eating them slowly.

"I hope everyone is aware that family dinners are compulsory." Lara's stern gaze travelled around the table. "No more 'forgetting' about them."

Ellie felt like that was directed at her, which wasn't really fair considering Tate had been out a bit the past few days. Lara had even labelled a burger and left it in the fridge for him. She refrained from rolling her eyes, cutting her meat slowly. She was worried about Lydia, worried that her best friend was in hospital. Not to mention Tracy. The girl had been quiet and Ellie had probably only spoken to her once or twice. Now she was a ruthless killer? It just didn't make sense.

"Ellie, I hear you've been having nightmares," Deucalion stated, like that was a perfectly acceptable topic of dinner conversation.

"Nothing major," Ellie muttered around her potato.

"About people in masks," Bree chimed in, like someone had actually asked for her opinion on the matter. "You keep having them. That's not good."

Ellie's temper flared. "It's just a nightmare, okay?"

She hated the fact that her family all seemed like they were treading carefully around her, as if one move might set her off. She wasn't a grenade waiting to blow. She knew her nightmares were downright creepy. Maybe she had some sort of prophetic vision. That would be a pretty cool supernatural ability. Ellie toyed with her pendant, hoping they could just drop the topic. Thankfully, Tate spoke up.

"Lydia's been doing better. Haven't been able to see her because she's in the ICU, but she did text me."

"She texted you?" Ellie's eyebrows shot up. Of course, she'd been texting her best friend practically non-stop since Lydia had been injured, but it was just surprising that she was actually communicating with Tate.

"She totally has the hots for me." Tate winked.

Ellie mimed vomiting. "Gross. She so doesn't."

Maybe that was another thing on her mind. Tate had been so concerned about Lydia the day after he'd brought her to the hospital, and it had been genuine. Despite his offhand comments and flirtatious behaviour around Lydia, Ellie was starting to think that maybe Tate was interested in more than just a quick screw. That scared her, to think that her older brother might have feelings for her best friend, might actually take her seriously.

"Have you been feeling alright lately, Ellie?" Lara's voice was concerned as she observed her youngest. "Apart from the nightmares, I mean. You haven't been experiencing anything unusual?"

"No, Mum." Ellie rolled her eyes, irritated at Lara's concern over something as trivial as a nightmare. She had the same spots on her back that were sore and itchy, but she thought those were probably just sores or something. Gross. "If I was some kind of supernatural creature, I think I'd know about it by now."

"Okay." Lara didn't sound convinced, but she didn't push the topic any more. Ellie noticed her parents exchange a meaningful look. Putting her knife and fork together, she got up from the table, going to dump her plate in the dishwasher. She was sick of being treated like there was something she didn't know, and if there was, her parents needed to speak up about it. She really couldn't be bothered playing 20 Questions trying to figure out why they thought something was up.

"I'm going to do my Art homework." Ellie flounced upstairs, already mentally planning her playlist for the night. She leaned over the bannister to call down to her family. "Do not disturb!"

* * *

"I feel like they don't trust me," Ellie complained as she and Theo pretended to look over their notes during study period. She'd never spent as much time in the library as she had this year, and senior year had only just begun. She suppressed a shudder at the thought of how much more time she was going to be spending among shelves of books she wasn't interested in reading.

"You mean Scott and the others?" Theo asked. He'd laughed off the fact that she had vomited on him, much to her relief. Ellie nodded slowly, tracing her fingers over the surface of her iPod. She knew she couldn't just come back and expect everything to be the same, that she could just integrate into a social circle with people she hadn't really been too close with before, but…she wanted them to trust her. She wasn't a supernatural creature, but she knew more about the supernatural in general than probably most of them.

"Yeah," she murmured. "I mean, I know I'm just a boring human, but…"

"Hey." Theo rested his hand over hers. "You're far from boring."

Ellie smiled tightly. "You don't know me that well, though. Besides, everyone else is a werewolf or faerie or freaking banshee and I'm just…me."

"Look at Stiles," Theo pointed out, giving her hand a little squeeze. "He and Scott are practically inseparable. He's only human too. It doesn't mean you're worth less than anyone else. It just means you've got very different strengths and weaknesses."

"I guess so." Ellie drew her hand away from his to scratch at her back. It was still bothering her, and she wondered if maybe she'd have to go see a doctor about it. It wasn't outright painful, but it was a definite irritation. "I mean, Lydia and I were best friends before I went away. Now that I'm back we still are, but…things have changed. I don't want to feel like I'm replacing Allison in the group…"

"But you do." Theo nodded slowly. When he noticed her scratching her back, he frowned. "You alright?"

"Yeah, my back's just been itchy a lot lately." Ellie sighed, giving up on trying to scratch at her shoulder blades. "It's nothing serious, maybe like an allergy to something."

"You aren't replacing anyone," Theo said firmly. "You and I are the same in that we've just come back, and a lot is different, especially for me. I haven't seen any of you guys since we were kids. It's tough, but maybe you and I felt like we just…were alike."

In some ways, Ellie agreed, but then she remembered that Theo was also a werewolf, so therefore probably had more in common with Tate than her. She sighed heavily, raking a hand through her blonde hair. She didn't know why she was so stressed about it. She wanted to study photography or fine art next year, which was very different from what her friends had planned.

"Most of the stuff you've seen, people would run from in terror." Theo offered her that charming smile of his, and she couldn't help but return it. "Doesn't it mean something that you didn't? You're tough, Ellie."

She didn't feel like she was tough, but she took the compliments where she could find them. Her original interest in Theo had been shallow, based on the fact that he was hot and interested in her. But since they'd gotten into a proper relationship, they'd begun to discover they had more in common. She wouldn't say they were very alike as Theo did, but they definitely seemed to have a similar way of thinking about things. She really didn't understand why Stiles found him suspicious. All Theo was trying to do was develop his friendship with Scott, much as Ellie was trying with Lydia.

* * *

Tate thumped his way down the stairs as he headed towards the kitchen, his stomach grumbling as it hadn't been fed in the past hour. As he made a beeline for the fridge, he stopped to glance at the lounge to see Bree sleeping. He grinned before walking over, tilting it just enough that his sister slipped off of the lounge and onto the floor with a thud.

"Tate!" She exclaimed, knowing exactly who the culprit was. Out of Tate and Ellie, he was always the one annoying her. It had been like that ever since they were kids.

"Yes, oh sister?" Tate smiled at her innocently as he continued on his path to the kitchen, his stomach rumbling again.

"I'm going to kill you." She grumbled, more under her breath than to him, but his superior hearing allowed him to hear every word she spoke.

"Yeah, okay." He rolled his eyes as he dragged the bacon and eggs from the fridge, frowning when the bacon began to freeze. "You're just wasting Mum and Dad's money, moron."

She ruffled his hair as she walked past towards the coffee, glancing at him as he threw the frozen bacon into the pan. "Got a new girl yet?"

"Not at the moment. I'm focused on my studies." He told her, and they both knew it was a whole lot of bullshit.

Bree rolled her eyes, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "How's the study going?"

"Getting good grades, so I have to be doing something right." He shrugged, frowning as she laughed at him. "What?"

She handed him a cup of coffee, grabbing a piece of cooked bacon from the pan. "You're smart. You don't need to study."

"Sometimes I like to try, so people don't feel too bad when I own them." He grinned at her, frowning as she took more of the bacon.

Bree raised an eyebrow at his expression. "What?"

"It's called getting your own." He growled at her playfully.

"Why would I do that when I can have yours?" She winked.

* * *

"Why are we looking over this?" Ellie pointed an accusatory finger at the Bestiary. When she'd received a text from Scott saying they were meeting at the school library, she was happy to be included, but also wondering what was going on. Once they were there, Ellie felt like she was studying all over again when the Bestiary had been slapped down on the table.

"We're looking for something called a chimera," Scott said, and she guessed he must have found some new information about Tracy – probably thanks to Dr Deaton. "Tracy had the claws of a werewolf, but the scales and tail of a kanima."

"So what's a chimera, exactly?" Ellie frowned, sitting down at the table next to Malia. She felt like she'd much rather be practising her sketching and photography right now, and wondered whether she'd made a bad choice in coming to subject herself to optional study group.

"That's what we're trying to find out." Scott flicked through the pages of the Bestiary. "Deaton thinks that these supernatural creatures, like Tracy, are actually being created. We found some holes in the woods, it's some kind of…incubation process. Deaton's left town to look for more information, but they're sort of experiments."

"They?" Ellie questioned, raising her eyebrows.

Stiles scratched at the back of his head. "Did we forget to mention the guy with the freaky talons?"

"The _what_?" Ellie leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "Uh, you definitely did."

"I swear we mentioned him once or twice," Stiles insisted.

"Look, it doesn't matter." Scott interrupted their bickering with a sense of purpose. It was odd to Ellie to realise that he was the unspoken leader of their little group. Once upon a time, Lydia would never have let anyone step in her sunlight, but things had changed. Lydia had changed. If Lydia trusted Scott, then Ellie supposed she was going to have to as well. "What does matter is that there's more of these creatures around. We don't know how many. But we need to know what they are and what they can do."

Ellie sighed dramatically, staring down at the text in front of her. Secretly, she was hoping she might find out she was some sort of supernatural creature, one that emerged later than the early teen years. It was unlikely though, considering she knew her mum had circled her bed with mountain ash and she'd stepped over it like it wasn't even there. Boringly human, just as she'd suspected.

"Are there any of these other chimeras running around right now?"

"We don't know." Scott shrugged his shoulders. "That's why we need to research, see if we can find information that might help us tell in advance. It might prevent another death like Tracy's."

Grabbing her iPod out of her bag, Ellie plugged in her earphones and searched for her most upbeat playlist. She was going to need it, especially since she figured they would probably be at the library for a while.

* * *

Ellie didn't know how long it had been before she yanked out her earphones when Malia waved a hand around in front of her face. It was dark outside, so she estimated they'd been at the library for a good few hours at least. She was started to get hungry, and wondered if the local pizza joint would deliver to the school. She raised her eyebrows at the werecoyote girl.

"Yes?"

"I'm heading off." Malia cast her eyes down at Stiles, who was snoring softly, head rested on a book. "Let him know when he wakes up."

Ellie opened her mouth to ask why Malia didn't just wake Stiles up and tell him herself, but then closed her mouth again. The couple had been having issues lately, and it wasn't her place to pry. Instead she just shrugged her shoulders and nodded. Satisfied, Malia grabbed her bag and headed out. Ellie looked back at the Bestiary. She'd found a few interesting pages, but nothing on chimeras. Her favourites were probably the entries on the wendigo (' _known to have an uncontrollable appetite for human flesh'_ ), griffins (' _known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions_ ') and harpies (' _known for snatching the food of their victims and spiriting away evildoers_ ').

A low muttering alerted Ellie to the fact that Stiles was waking up. He pushed himself up off the desk, looking around, probably wondering where Malia had gone. Sighing, Ellie pressed pause on her iPod.

"Malia headed out."

"Right." Stiles nodded slowly. "So just you and me."

Ellie shrugged. "Looks that way."

There were a few more minutes of silence as the two of them perused the books. Ellie could tell she wasn't the only one who was pretty done with it all, especially as the rest of their group had left.

"So. You and Theo."

Ellie raised her eyebrows, wondering why the topic of conversation was now her relationship. After all, it wasn't like she was going to ask about Malia and Stiles, particularly as it didn't seem to be going so well.

"What about us?"

"He's bad news," Stiles insisted. Ellie couldn't help but roll her eyes. He'd been going on for ages about how Theo wasn't a great guy, about how there was something off about him. So far, nothing he'd come up with was particularly compelling, leading Ellie to believe that it was all in Stiles's head.

"He treats me well. What's your issue with him?"

"He's not as nice as he seems," Stiles insisted.

Ellie leaned across the table. "What's your evidence, detective?"

Stiles gestured vaguely. "Everything."

"So specific." Ellie checked her phone. It was almost 8pm, no wonder she was so damn hungry. She'd caught the bus in, but that didn't look like it was an option now. She doubted Stiles would say no to giving her a lift home. "Anyway, it's getting late. You want to head off?"

"Sure." Stiles started to gather his stuff together, and Ellie took one last look at the Bestiary before shaking her head and turning her mind away from the matter. She was being selfish right now, wanting to know what she was, not wanting to accept that she was average. Right now, they needed to be focused on the chimeras. She just wished she could be as selfless as Scott and the others because sometimes, it just felt like she was a hindrance.

"Look, maybe we should just call my brother or something." Ellie's voice was irritated, which didn't really make Stiles feel any better about his current situation. His car was an absolute mess, and he was trying to wrap duct tape around parts of it to see if he could get it to work. The blonde was restless, bouncing on the balls of her feet and casting her gaze around the carpark. Stiles would be lying if he didn't think she was cute, but she was also really annoying right now.

"I think I've almost got it," he called.

Someone grabbed his shoulder, and at first he thought it was Ellie, but then there was the sensation of being stabbed that made him yell out in pain. When he managed to swivel, his stomach lurched when he realised that it was Donovan, and that there was a small, fanged mouth on the palm of the guy's hand.

Stiles trying to ignore the pain that was flaring in his shoulder. Donovan lunged at Stiles again, but before he could strike, he was knocked to the side. Stiles knew that his saviour had to be Ellie, maybe wielding a heavy book or even her bag – but when he glanced at the blonde, Stiles felt fascinated horror come over him.

This was not Ellie Connor as he'd ever seen her. The girl – no, the _creature_ before him – was pure predator. Her eyes, normally light green, had gone a bright violet, narrowed in Donovan's direction. But what really caught Stiles's gaze was the silvery-purple, almost translucent things that were coming from the back of Ellie's shoulder blades, perhaps half an arm-length wide. Not things…wings. Ellie had wings. The snarl that came from her wasn't even remotely human, as she lunged at Donovan again.

The guy snarled and batted her away from him, but Ellie spun with all the grace of a ballerina, flapping her wings to steady herself. Before she could strike again, Donovan caught her by the neck, lifting her off her feet. By her piercing scream, echoing across the carpark, Stiles realised with shock that it was the hand bearing the tiny mouth with the vicious fangs.

"Ellie!" he exclaimed, helpless to do anything to help her.

"You little bitch!" Donovan hissed.

Ellie kicked at him, managing to catch him in the jaw. As she rolled onto the gravel, her wings retracted, but her eyes were still that same alarming shade of purple. A colour that could only be associated with the supernatural. Whatever Ellie had believed herself to be, she clearly wasn't human. Seizing her hand, Stiles yanked her to her feet and did the only thing he could – he ran inside, headed back for the library.

Ellie was breathing heavily by the time they reached the door and Stiles swiped his card to grant them access. Her eyes had gone back to their usual colour and she just looked like a scared human girl again. When the door beeped again, Ellie spun around, her entire frame tensing.

"Ellie, don't," Stiles whispered.

Too late. The petite blonde was charging towards Donovan at full speed, probably feeling newly empowered at her supernatural status. For a moment, Stiles thought she would floor him. Then Donovan backhanded her with enough force to send her crashing into one of the shelves. When she hit the floor, she didn't move again. Stiles's heart was hammering in his chest as he slipped behind another bookshelf, out of sight.

"Shame she had to get involved." Donovan sounded more amused than regretful. "She's hot. But it's just you and me now, Stiles."

* * *

"How was work?" Bree questioned Jordan as she looked over his shoulder, nibbling on her chocolate as he cooked their dinner.

"It was hectic." He sighed, kissing her cheek before she started gathering plates for them before turning his attention back to the food which had filled the apartment with a fragrant smell.

"Smells good." Bree smiled as she finished off setting up the table, watching as he began to plate up the food.

The two of them sat across from each other at his small dining table. Both had worked long hours and were enjoying having a home cooked meal and time to relax. Bree put her fork down as she finished the last of the butter chicken, glancing across at Jordan who was stretched out, leaning back in his chair. She let her eyes wander over his body and up to his face, where he was looking back at her with one eyebrow raised.

"What?"

Jordan grinned at her, and Bree wanted nothing more than to slap the stupid expression off of his attractive face. "Are you checking me out?"

"Obviously." She rolled her eyes at him as she collected their plates and wandered over to the sink.

Jordan watched as she washed them in the sink, leaning against the bench and waiting for the clean dishes to drip dry for a moment before grabbing a hand towel. Bree smiled as she watched him dry and put them away, quite pleased with the little system they had going on. It made her feet quite domestic, and she was grateful that it didn't include the arguments she always seemed to get in with her siblings.

"So, uh, anything new? In terms of figuring out what I am." Jordan asked as the two of them made their way into the lounge room.

Bree sighed heavily as she sat down, opening up one of the books her father had given her. "Not really."

Jordan nodded, sitting down beside her and letting himself sink into the lounge. "That's okay. You should be focusing more on your study in any case."

"I like the distraction." She assured him as she stretched out happily. "And it keeps me out of the house."

"Ah." He nodded as he stretched out further, smirking when he noticed her eyeing him off again.

Bree wasn't sure what prompted her to do it, but the next thing she knew her lips were against his and she was half in his lap. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him as she shifted fully into his lap, her arms snaking around his neck. She moaned softly as his hand tangled in her hair, feeling him grin against her lips. She drew back slightly at that, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'm definitely coming over more often now." She told him before pressing her lips to his again for a brief moment. "We should go on a date."

Jordan shifted his hands so they rested on her hips. "Where to?"

Bree thought on it for a moment. It had been a while since she'd done the whole dating thing. "Movies?"

"Sure." Jordan smiled before kissing her cheek.

* * *

Ellie jerked awake and her first instinct was to panic. She remembered Donovan, remembered the incident that had occurred in the carpark – including the part where she'd sprouted wings. When she looked around, she realised that she was in the passenger seat of Stiles's car, and they were parked outside her house. Stiles was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel before he glanced at her, relief crossing his face.

"You're awake."

"What the hell happened?" Ellie demanded.

"We were attacked," Stiles said, making her shake her head and wipe blood from her nose.

"I remember that part, kinda." She took a deep breath, but had to admit that she was shaken. She'd believed herself to be human, but tonight that had all changed. Now, she didn't know what she was. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"You had wings," Stiles pointed out, rather unhelpfully.

Ellie took a few more deep breaths, tugging her knees to her chest. She'd always wanted to be supernatural, but now that she was, she didn't know how to handle it. Clambering out of the car, Ellie stumbled towards her front door. Stiles followed, catching her around the waist and helping her into the house as she unlocked the door. The lounge room lamp was on, making Ellie certain no one else was home.

Her fingers drifted to her neck and she rubbed at it ruefully. It still stung where Donovan's mouth on his hand had bitten into her, but she found that she wasn't bleeding anymore and the punctures weren't overly deep. Whatever she was, it looked like she had an accelerated healing rate.

"My neck's almost healed up," she declared as she flopped on one of the couches.

"You're lucky," Stiles said, heading into the kitchen. He looked through the fridge, maybe for some juice or milk or something for them to drink.

"I don't feel lucky," Ellie murmured.

Stiles returned with a glass of milk for her, pressing it into shaking hands. After a few sips, Ellie was feeling a little better. She was still shaken, sure, but she felt more in control now. Whatever she was and whatever freaky powers she'd demonstrated tonight, it was something she was going to have to deal with.

"You okay?" she asked Stiles.

He shrugged. "I've had worse."

Ellie rested her head on his shoulder, but drew back when she felt him tense up. A pained wince crossed his features before he could stop himself, and she raised her eyebrows, eyes drifting to his shoulder.

"How's stuff with Malia?"

"It's okay."

"Just okay?" Ellie probed hesitantly. She knew that their rocky relationship probably wasn't the first thing Stiles wanted to discuss, but she also wanted to forget about the night's events. She knew that there was going to be some explaining to do, especially when it came to their friends – who would want more information on what Ellie was and what she could do.

"It could be better," Stiles admitted.

Ellie chewed at her lip. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It happens." Stiles didn't look directly at her. She didn't expect him too. There had been a lot of crazy things that had happened tonight, but funnily enough, talking about his relationship with Malia was what made him most uneasy. He raked a hand through his hair, pushing himself to his feet. "Um. It's late. I should go, and you should definitely get some sleep."

"Stiles." Ellie reached out to catch his sleeve, prompting him to glance back at her, slightly surprised. "Thanks, for tonight, I mean. I know it must have been pretty freaky for you too."

Stiles managed a small smile. "Well, you did kind of save my life."


	7. Like Animals (M)

**Chapter Seven: Like Animals**

* * *

 **A/N: So this chapter is going be living up to the M rating, so you've been warned! Any future chapters that also have sex scenes will be marked with an M so that anyone who'd rather not read smut can skip it.**

 **As usual, thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot to us :D**

* * *

"I've never understood why people separate in horror films. Like, stick together. It's easier to kill a killer in a pack." Bree rolled her eyes at the television as she shovelled another handful of popcorn into her mouth. Both her and Jordan had decided on a horror film, something to take their mind off the horror story that was their lives.

Jordan shrugged, watching her eat the popcorn with an amused expression. He didn't understand how someone of her size could eat so much, and still remain that size. "I guess they're just not us."

"That's true." She nodded, snuggling up to him as she put an arm around her. The two were quite content in each other's company, and neither of them had much to say as they continued to eat popcorn and watch the movie. When it was done, Jordan flicked the television off and Bree took her empty bowl to the kitchen. "So, why'd you come here of all places?"

"Beacon Hills?" Jordan replied, not exactly sure what she was talking about.

Bree nodded before turning her attention to making some coffee. "Yeah."

"I felt drawn here I guess." He explained, leaning against the bench as he watched her flit about the kitchen.

She grinned at him over her shoulder as she pulled some mugs from the cupboard, grabbing some sugar as she made her way back to the coffee. "That's cute."

"Do you think it's a supernatural sort of pull?" He asked, sipping at the coffee as she handed him a mug.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was." She answered through a yawn before downing half of her coffee.

"Tired?" He chuckled as he watched her.

"A little." She sighed, finishing her coffee and placing the mug in the sink.

Jordan kissed her cheek as he moved past her to do the same with his. "Are you going home or staying here?"

"Am I welcome to stay?" She didn't want to overstep her boundaries, but she also didn't want to drive home. She just wanted to sleep then and there.

"Sure." He smiled, linking his arms around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder as she washed up the dishes in the sink.

* * *

It had been a wild few days for Ellie. At least Lydia was out of hospital – but she had suddenly developed some crazy powers, and her friends were excluding her from things _again_. The latest she'd heard from Lydia was that they were planning to go to Eichen House to speak with a guy called Gabriel Valack, who they thought knew something about the people performing these experiments. Apparently they were called the Dread Doctors. It sounded pretty cheesy.

"Hey, Ellie," Stiles said with way too much cheer as the small blonde marched over to him and Scott. He'd been pretty quiet about what had happened with Donovan, and Ellie hadn't wanted to say much on it either. All they'd shared with the others about that night was that Ellie's apparently latent supernatural abilities had surfaced.

"I heard you were planning on going to Eichen House."

Scott frowned. "From who?"

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Lydia…"

"Of course she told you," Stiles sighed. Ellie really thought they'd have expected as much. She was, after all, still Lydia's best friend. Even if sometimes she wanted to disown the redhead for the fact that she was getting closer to Tate. Apparently, he'd offered to teach her some self-defence moves from when he'd done martial arts as a kid. Ellie thought that was just code for a steamy make-out session, but she didn't need to know details.

Ellie lifted her chin. "So, I want in."

Stiles shook his head vigorously. "No."

"Excuse me?" Ellie planted her hands on her hips, green eyes narrowing. She had saved his ass the other night, pretty much. Now he was trying to tell her that she couldn't come along to their little jaunt to Eichen House.

"Ellie, we don't know what you are," Scott explained, his tone gentler than Stiles's. "There's mountain ash in there, it could hurt you."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "I'm probably just a sylph."

That was, after all, what her maternal grandma was. Apparently, Lara's late sister had also been a sylph. It definitely explained Ellie's wings and the shade of purple her eyes flared when she went into supernatural creature mode. That was the best explanation that any of them had been able to come up with, so Lara had deduced that Ellie was simply fae and had developed her abilities late.

"Ellie, it's not a good idea," Stiles insisted.

"Stiles, can we talk for a moment?" Ellie fixed him with a piercing look, and when he nodded, she grabbed his arm and dragged him far enough away so that Scott's werewolf hearing wouldn't be able to pick up on their conversation. "So you'll tell Scott about me, but you won't tell him about whatever happened with Donovan the other night?"

Stiles frowned. "He doesn't need to have something else to worry about."

"But he can worry about me?" It seemed pretty unfair to Ellie. She should be able to make her own choice about whether or not she wanted to come to Eichen House, it shouldn't be a pack decision.

"We'll worry more if you're there," Stiles said, causing the blonde to scowl. "Please, just stay behind."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Ellie muttered mutinously.

"We don't know the extent of your abilities yet," Stiles reminded her.

"Yeah, no kidding." Ellie raked a hand through her hair. She hadn't been in control the other night, not at all. While she understood that Scott and Stiles had a point, she didn't like the thought of not being included. After all, what was to say she wouldn't learn by being thrown in the deep end? Her abilities had only surfaced in a moment of chaos, so maybe that was just what she needed.

"Which is why you can't come." Stiles held up his hands defensively. "I didn't make the rules. Scott did. He's the alpha."

"Okay, Stiles." There was no mistaking the irritation in Ellie's tone. "I get it. I can't come."

Part of her understood, yet part of her didn't get it. Stiles was human, and he was going to be heading to Eichen House. Was it because they didn't trust her, because she was Deucalion's daughter? Was this really about her newfound powers? Ellie wasn't entirely sure, but of one thing she was certain: while she might agree to sit this one out, next time, she was definitely going.

* * *

Bree stirred her coffee as she sat across from her best friend, Kayla. The two of them had gone through school together and had remained friends, which surprised Bree a little. She'd lost contact with most of her school friends, she had maybe three or four she kept in touch with. She found it was easier to befriend her work colleagues now, but she supposed that had something to do with similar interests. "How's work?"

"It's alright. How's yours?" Kayla worked in admin in a law firm, and Bree could never understand how the work didn't bore her best friend.

"Not too bad. Study is getting annoying though." Bree sighed as she leant back in her chair. She was ready for it to all be over, but she still had a while ahead of her until it was. "How's the love life? Still seeing Ricky?"

Kayla nodded. Ricky had gone to school with them, and it didn't surprise Bree that the two were still together. They were that pair that you knew all through school were going to be together even after school was over. "Yep. How about you?"

"I started seeing someone." Bree grinned. The two didn't talk much through the phone, with the exception of organising coffee dates, so she was excited to tell her. "He's a cop and is really cute. I think I spend more time at his than a home actually."

Kayla winked at her. "Oh wow, serious already?"

"Well, it started off as me helping with something. And it slowly progressed." Bree explained as she sipped her coffee, smiling at the waitress as she brought the brownies over that they had ordered. "He's really nice. I think you'd like him. Everyone seems to."

"Has he met your family?" Kayla asked as she began to cut into her brownie, shovelling the first piece in her mouth.

"Not yet. I'm a little apprehensive about introducing him to dad." Bree pointed out. Nearly every boyfriend she'd had, she'd avoided introducing to her father for as long as possible. It never ended well, due to his intimidating presence. "I don't want him to be scared off."

"Oh yeah. I completely understand that." Kayla laughed and shook her head. "Your mum would be cool with it."

"She's cool with most things." Bree dug into her own brownie, relishing in the sugary and chocolatey goodness, hoping it would give her enough energy to last her shift. "Even the fact that my sister has an asshole boyfriend."

"Little Ellie? Really?" Kayla nearly dropped her spoon. She remembered when Ellie was still a tiny little kid, and how she would annoy the two older girls when they were trying to act cool, well, that's how she perceived it now anyway. "How old is she now?"

Bree finished her coffee before answering her friends question. "Eighteen."

"How about Tate?" Kayla inquired about the other sibling.

"He's still screwing around." Bree shrugged, nothing much every changed with Tate.

"He hasn't changed much then." Kayla sipped her own coffee, Bree's answer not really surprising her. "There's no girl that's caught his eye?"

"Not that I know of." Bree and Tate didn't really discuss their love lives much, they preferred to stay clear of each other unless they wanted to irritate the other, or needed advice.

"How are your parents?" Kayla asked as she finished her coffee. It had been a while since her or Bree had seen the other's family, and it was strange, given they used to be together all the time.

"They're good. How're yours?" Bree didn't have much to report in regards to her parents. Nothing really changed with them, except for her dad's homicidal tendencies, which she didn't quite feel like sharing with Kayla.

"Pretty good." Kay shrugged, finishing off her brownie.

* * *

Ellie wasn't entirely surprised when she'd gotten a text from Scott telling her that their adventure to Eichen House hadn't gone too well. Although she knew they would fill her in on the details later, she couldn't help but feel slightly smug. It was mean, but she wanted to think things would have gone better if she'd been there. Although, sprawled on Theo's bed looking over her English notes, she had to admit she was pretty comfortable where she was right now.

"You've been a bit off lately," Theo declared. His notes weren't even open and he was making no attempt to study, instead watching his blonde girlfriend curiously as she pored over hers. The comment made Ellie look up, raising her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?"

"You seem on edge," Theo said.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Ellie admitted. Realising that she wasn't exactly being very productive, she closed her book with a thud. Maybe it was a good idea to tell Theo the truth. He was her boyfriend, after all, and a supernatural creature himself. "The truth is, I'm a bit lost. The others all went to Eichen House, but they didn't want me to come. They still don't trust me."

"Why wouldn't they want you to come?" Theo frowned.

"Because I…I figured out I'm actually something supernatural." Ellie stared down at the chipped blue paint on her fingernails. "I think I might be a sylph, but I'm not entirely sure. Something weird happened the other night."

"What?" Theo's eyes lit up with something like excitement at her admission. He sat up straighter, making Ellie watch him cautiously. He was probably just curious about what she was, but he did seem really thrilled that she'd suddenly turned out to be supernatural all along.

"Look, you can't tell Stiles I told you." Ellie heaved a sigh, knowing that if her friend found out what she was going to tell Theo, he would not be thrilled. "The other night when we headed out from the library, we were attacked by Donovan. He went at Stiles and I…I don't know. Something happened with me."

"So you're supernatural." Theo nodded slowly, as if he'd suspected all along. There was an almost hungry look in his eye, although Ellie couldn't really have said why. Maybe it was just a hunger to know what she was, what she could do. Personally, she was pretty keen to find more out about her abilities too.

"Seems like it."

"That's great." Theo leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. "You're amazing. You know that, right?"

Ellie laughed a little. "I am?"

He kissed her again, more passionately this time. She draped her arms around his neck when he grabbed her by the waist and tugged her into his lap. It was pretty obvious that he had no intention of studying. Her hands roamed up his chest, feeling the muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt. Her heart was racing, and there was something fierce awake now in her, something that wanted more than just kissing and touching, something that craved him. It excited and terrified her.

Theo's lips pressed hot kisses down her neck, and he sucked lightly at the tender skin. Ellie's eyes fluttered closed at the sensation, gasping softly. She tilted her head back to give him more access to her bare skin, and he took the opportunity greedily, teeth grazing against her collarbone and making her shiver in delight. He drew back momentarily to pull his shirt over his head, raising his eyebrows at her expectantly.

Ellie's cheeks flared with heat when he realised what he meant, and she peeled her own shirt off, unable to help the slight smirk that crossed her lips as his eyes immediately flicked down to her chest. She hesitated for a moment, then reached behind her to unhook her bra, shrugging it off and crossing her arms shyly over her breasts. Theo gently brushed her arms away, reaching up to grope at her. Ellie moaned softly and he grinned, flipping them so that the blonde was pinned to the bed.

His fingers slipped up under her skirt to tug at the waistband of her undies. Ellie's eyes met his, and she realised he was waiting for her permission. She nodded fervently, and Theo tugged them down her legs. Theo's eyes were clouded with lust as his hand slipped back up her skirt, and Ellie gasped as she felt him slip a finger inside her. Sure, she'd done this with a handful of guys and girls in Germany, but she'd never gone further. She was teetering on the edge, knowing she could turn back now, or go all the way. When Theo added another finger, Ellie made her decision and started undoing his pants.

Theo tugged his pants off and Ellie chewed at her lip as he positioned himself over her. This was what she wanted, what she craved, but she couldn't deny that she was a little nervous. Theo waited for her to nod again before he pushed into her. She winced at the sharp pain, but it was over quickly, although it was still pretty uncomfortable. She gripped his shoulders hard until the pain receded a little.

"I'm okay," she insisted after a moment.

Theo started to move slowly, his lips trailing down her neck. She wrapped her legs around his waist, the discomfort starting to fade a bit. He gripped her hips and started to pump into her faster, coaxing a soft moan from the blonde. She wouldn't exactly call it pure pleasure, but she was definitely enjoying this to some degree. She rocked her hips against him, encouraging him, wanting more.

Theo's thrusts became harder as he realised Ellie wasn't feeling any discomfort, and she let her head fall back against the pillows. Her nails dug into his arms, hard enough to draw blood, although he healed up almost straight away. He wasn't gentle, but Ellie hadn't expected him to be. There was a certain savagery about werewolves. His quick, hard thrusts made her feel a mixture of pleasure and pain, but she didn't tell him to stop. She didn't want to stop. She liked the feeling.

Ellie arched up against him, her breasts pressed against his chest. Theo groaned and moved deeper, making her fist her hands in his hair. By the way he was gritting his teeth, she guessed that he was close, very close. He shifted one of his hands to her ass as she bucked against him. After a few shallow, rough thrusts that made her wince slightly, Theo shuddered and grunted, burying his face in her neck as he reached his orgasm. After a few moments, silent aside from their heavy breathing, he rolled off her.

"You alright?" Theo asked as Ellie sat up slowly. She was sore, her legs shaky. But overall she was feeling pretty good. She hadn't exactly expected to have an orgasm the first time. She hadn't thought her first time would be perfect, because it hadn't been. But it definitely hadn't been shit.

"I think so." Ellie picked her undies up off the floor, tugging them back on. Her hair was a mess as she raked her fingers through it, full of tangles. Not to mention that she felt like she was covered in a light sheen of sweat, although that was expected too. It was a little strange to her, the fact that they'd gone from discussing her new supernatural status to having sex, but boys could be strange. Teenage boys particularly were always horny. She'd learned that from the regrettable amount of times she'd stumbled into Tate's room to find him rutting against a girl.

"So, wings." Theo trailed his fingers down her bare back, making her shudder in delight. He grinned at her reaction and kept tracing her skin. "That's pretty cool."

In her post-sex haze, Ellie couldn't remember whether or not she had mentioned wings, because she was pretty sure that she hadn't. Although she supposed it didn't matter. Theo probably had a knowledge of the supernatural, as she did, and knew what a sylph was. Something was nagging at her, some little doubt in the back of her mind, but she happily ignored it as she tugged her clothes back on.

* * *

There was so much bullshit on TV, Tate concluded as he flicked through the channels. He'd gotten home from uni a bit early and expected to have some time to himself, so he'd hopped straight on the TV. However when he heard keys jingling and the door opening, he realised that he had company. He raised his eyebrows as his younger sister headed into the house, her school bag slung over her shoulder. She must have gone to Theo or Lydia's straight after school.

"Hey, Tate," she called as she headed into the kitchen.

There was a funny smell on the air, and Tate frowned and wrinkled his nose. He knew that smell all too well. After all, usually it was coming from his room. He got to his feet and followed Ellie into the kitchen, watching as she poured herself some apple juice. When she realised he was there, she held up the juice bottle.

"Want some?"

"You smell weird," he declared.

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Uh, thanks?"

"You had sex," Tate said, smirking when Ellie's cheeks went bright red. He wasn't overly bothered at discussing her sex life, as long as it wasn't in graphic detail. Everyone had a sex life, after all. Well, most people. "You finally had sex."

"Well, yeah," Ellie said a little defensively. "It was bound to happen."

"That's cute." Tate's smirk faded when he watched Ellie rake a hand through her hair, sipping her juice. Her expression told him that it hadn't been a mind-blowing experience. "You didn't like it. Did he hurt you?"

"I dunno." She shrugged her shoulders, setting her glass down. "It's meant to hurt the first time."

"But did he hurt you a lot?" Tate persisted. He already really disliked Theo, and if the guy had done anything to harm his baby sister, Tate would teach him a lesson in respect. Ellie deserved better.

"Uh, on a scale of 1 to 10, it was about a 5 or 6." Ellie scowled when Tate narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"He should've been more careful," Tate seethed. He knew, as a werewolf, that it could be difficult to control his more animalistic urges. But he was always careful with the girls he slept with. He never wanted to go too far.

"I'm not made of glass," Ellie drawled, dumping her glass in the sink and leaning against the bench, folding her arms. "He probably just didn't realise."

"Don't defend him," Tate growled. What did Ellie even see in the little jerk? He was the definition of a fuckboy. Although, now Tate thought about it, some girls had said the same sort of thing about him before.

"You can't seriously think he's twisted enough to deliberately hurt me," Ellie stated, raising her eyebrows in disbelief.

Tate shrugged, picking up the bottle of apple juice and drinking from it directly, ignoring his younger sister's appalled look. It was almost empty anyway, so he may as well finish it off. Once he was done, he tossed it in the recycle and turned his attention back to the topic at hand.

"He doesn't seem to be an amazing male specimen."

"He's not intentionally hurting me, it just happens like that." Ellie seemed to realise that he was coming from a place of protectiveness, and touched his arm. "Hey. Tate. I'm okay."

"Does Lydia have a boyfriend?" Tate asked, sensing an opportunity to change the topic, especially as Ellie was obviously done discussing it. Not only that, but he was genuinely interested in the answer to his question.

"No." Ellie held up a finger in warning. "You are not going there. She's my friend, it'd be weird."

Tate smirked. "I'm still gonna tap that."

"What the fuck!" Ellie exclaimed, shaking her head vigorously. He couldn't help but be amused by the way her eyes had widened in horror. "No!"

"She's hot," Tate insisted. He watched as his younger sister went to wash her glass, knowing she'd get a telling off from their mum if it was discovered just lying in the sink. He noticed her limp and raised his eyebrows. "How rough was he?"

"He's a werewolf, Tate." Ellie threw an exasperated look over her shoulder. "I wasn't expecting slow and sweet."

"I still don't like him," Tate muttered.


	8. Wild Things (M)

**Chapter Eight: Wild Things**

* * *

 **A/N: Hey everyone, time for an update ;) Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! As usual, any chapters marked with an M generally mean there's a sex scene.**

* * *

Bree placed the last dish in the dish-rack to dry before wiping her hand on the tea towel, glancing over her shoulder at Jordan who was leaning against the counter opposite to her. "How was work today?"

"The usual. Trying to clean up mess." Jordan sighed as he watched her, thankful that he had come home to a cooked meal and didn't have to clean up the kitchen.

Bree kissed his cheek as she walked past him, moving towards the bedroom with the intention of getting changed into her pyjamas. "Well, now you can relax."

"That's true." He smiled as he followed her, hooking his arms around her waist and pulling her close.

She shifted so that she was facing him before pressing a kiss to his lips. He responded eagerly, pulling her closer against him as her arms found their way around her neck. Jordan began to run his hands up her sides, groaning when her lips attached to his neck. Bree smirked against his neck before letting out a soft moan as Jordan's hands groped at her breasts.

She drew back from him for a moment to tug her shirt off, winking at him as his eyes roamed over her. She flopped back on the bed as she watched him take his own shirt off, pulling him down on top of her and running her hands down his muscular torso. Jordan tugged her bra off before kissing down her neck, using one hand to support his weight while the other played with her breast. She arched against him, one of her hands moving to fist in his hair as his lips continued their trail from her neck, down to her stomach.

She could feel him smirking against her skin as he slowly pulled her shorts down her legs before running his hands back up to her hips, pulling her close to him. She waiting for him to kick his own pants off before hooking her legs around his waist and flipping the two of them, her hands moving to pin his wrists above his head. Both of them were panting heavily and Bree felt like every inch of her skin was on fire as she pressed herself closer to him. She rested her hands on his chest as his moved lazily up and down her sides.

Bree shifted slightly before lowering herself onto his cock, her hands resting against his chest as leverage as she began to rock her hips slowly. His hands moved to her waist, gripping her hips tightly as she began to move faster, grinding her hips against his. Jordan shifted slightly, sitting up so that he could attached his lips to her neck, smirking when one of her hands found their way into his hair.

Jordan rested his hand against her lower back before managing to flip the two of them, pinning her beneath him as he began to thrust faster. She dug her nails into his shoulder as he pressed closer against her, his thrusts becoming harder as both of them neared the end. One of his hands left her hips to play with her breast while his mouth descended on the other one, taking her nipple into his mouth and biting lightly, earning a moan form the already writhing woman beneath him.

He drew back to slam his hips against hers, the two of them reaching their orgasms moments apart as he let himself fall on top of her. Bree rubbed his back as she panted heavily, stretching out as he rolled off of her. It had been a while since she'd had good sex, and she knew she was going to feel it in the morning.

"That was good." She smiled as she wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling his neck. "Feel more relaxed now?"

Jordan chuckled as one of his arms circled around her waist. "A lot more relaxed."

* * *

In the last few years that they'd lived in this house, Bree had never noticed how loud their front door was until she was attempting to sneak in. Once she had gotten through the door she headed straight for the kitchen in search of food, poking her head in to see her sister standing there making pancakes. Ellie glanced over her shoulder at her older sister, looking over her as she wandered into the kitchen.

"How's Jordan?" Ellie winked at her, flipping the pancakes that were cooking in the pan.

"Why're you asking about him?" Bree asked, her head in the fridge as she pulled out some juice.

"Because your hair is a bird's nest and it's obvious what - or rather, who - you did." Ellie pointed out, sliding her glass over to her sister as she began to fill it with juice. Bree just shook her head, filling Ellie's glass and handing it back to her.

Bree sipped on her drink, running a hand through her hair, which she would agree was a complete mess. "Where's Tate?"

"He's out. Don't know where." Ellie shrugged, it wasn't that she didn't care, but Tate was always out. "So, how was it?"

Bree grinned at her, sitting up on the bench. "Amazing."

"That's good. Want a pancake?" Ellie gestured to the pan, flipping over the few pancakes in there.

"Sure." Bree smiled, patting her hair down in an attempt to make it neater. "How're the dreams?"

"Still happening. Theo reckons he knows what's going on." Ellie sat down, pouring some syrup on her pancakes.

Bree joined her at the table, scowling at the mention of the other teenager's name. "You're still hanging out with him."

"Well, he's my boyfriend..." Ellie pointed out, picking at her food.

Bree made a face again as she checked her phone, answering a text from Kay. "I don't know why."

"He's hot and he's good at...you know what, I don't need to explain." Ellie raised her hands, shaking her head. She didn't have to justify herself to her older sister.

Bree decided not to push the conversation further, feeling her lethargy ebbing at the edge of her mind. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep before she had to go to work that afternoon. "Bed time."

"How typical." Ellie teased, winking at her.

"Look, I was kept up all night. I deserve a nap before I have to go to work and help save people's lives later." Bree grinned, unable to help the laughter in her tone.

* * *

Tate knew that there was something up with Ellie, and he wanted to know what it was. He didn't think it was the fact that she'd slept with Theo – that was always going to happen sooner or later. But he wasn't getting any answers from his younger sister, so he decided to go to the one person who might have answers: her best friend. He waited outside with his hands in his pockets after rapping on the door, and grinned when Lydia answered it.

"Hey, babe."

She raised her eyebrows. "Hey."

"Can I come in?" Tate had only ever been to Lydia's house a handful of times to pick Ellie up. He'd never really spent a heap of time at the Martin residence, but his eyes travelled curiously over the house's exterior.

"Why are you here?" Lydia asked suspiciously. He thought she wasn't going to let him in, before she seemed to reconsider and threw the door open wider, gesturing for him to come inside. Tate strode in, completely unsurprised by how neat and tidy the house was.

"I'm worried about Ellie," Tate admitted, raking a hand through his hair. It wasn't easy for him to shed his carefree, easy-going image in front of Lydia, but he couldn't help it. "She's having these recurring nightmares. You're her best friend, I thought you might know something."

Lydia frowned, looking concerned. "She told me she was having bad dreams, I just didn't realise how bad."

"Nothing freaky happening with her?" Tate asked. He knew that there were strange incidents happening all around town, and that a group of the kids had gone to Eichen House. He also knew that the freaks in masks that Ellie had been having nightmares about were very real, and they were called the Dread Doctors. Corny name, very real threat. He just knew that there was more going on with Ellie than she was letting on.

"Stiles said he saw her with wings, but you probably already know that." Lydia shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I think he called her a sylph. Maybe her dreams are connected to that?"

"Wait, what?" This was certainly news to Tate. He hadn't heard anything about this, and his eyes widened as he processed the fact that his younger sister was supernatural after all. "When did this happen? The little dork was human last I checked."

Lydia tossed her hair back. "Oh. You didn't know."

"Well, if it's just her powers manifesting, then it's not that bad," Tate said, more to himself than Lydia. But never had he heard of freaky, possibly even prophetic dreams being part of sylph abilities. If she was just a sylph, what was with the nightmares? "I just feel like there's something else."

"You and me both," Lydia murmured.

"Yeah, we just need to figure out these freaky Dread Doctor things." Tate observed Lydia closely. He was worried about more than just Ellie. It freaked him out to realise he was concerned about Lydia, too. "You doing okay?"

"I'm just concerned about my friends," Lydia admitted. They had that in common, at least – both of them were wary of Ellie, of what she was becoming. Tate's grandma was a sylph and although he hadn't seen her in years, he didn't remember her having bizarre nightmares. In fact, it reminded him of exactly what had happened with Tracy. Hadn't she been having night terrors? Tate rubbed his temples, uncertain how Tracy and Ellie might be connected, but sensing there was a lot more to this.

"You know, we should go on a date sometime," Tate said, changing the subject completely. He didn't want to think about things he couldn't control, or the sister he currently couldn't help. Lydia glanced at him, raising her eyebrows in astonishment at the question. "Dinner maybe?"

He was expecting her usual flippant rejection, to which he'd grin at and accept. But this time was different. This time, Lydia nodded slowly, as if she was actually considering it. It was Tate's turn now to be surprised.

"Alright. Pick somewhere and we can go tonight."

"Pizza?" Tate suggested. There was an amazing wood-fired pizza place in the centre of town, where he went when he wasn't feeling like the cheap, greasy stuff he usually got takeaway during all-nighters before exams.

"Pizza sounds good." Lydia offered him a slight smile, before she cleared her throat. "You should go."

"Aw, don't want me to stay?" Tate teased, eyes glittering with mischief.

Lydia planted her hands on her hips. "I have study to be doing and you have other people you can annoy."

Tate laughed and held up his hands. "Okay."

"You can get me at seven," Lydia said authoritatively, but Tate saw the smile playing about her lips. She might act dismissive, but it was obvious to him that she was keen for this date as well. Maybe she liked him more than she let on. Offering her an absurdly goofy grin, he winked.

"It's a date."

* * *

Bree shifted around in the bed as she felt Jordan tossing and turning beside her. She rolled onto her side, wrapping an arm around him from behind and burying her face in his shoulder, frowning when she felt the heat radiating off of him. Bree moved her hand to his forehead, jumping when he jolted awake, grabbing her wrist. She gently pulled herself from his grip, resting a hand on his arm.

"Sorry." Jordan apologised, his breath coming in ragged pants.

Bree rubbed his arm gently, offering him a small smile. She wasn't bothered that he had woken her up, she was more concerned about his mental state considering how violent his dream had seemed. "It's fine. You okay?"

"Just a nightmare." He nodded, raking a hand through his hair and sitting up. He could feel the sweat dripping off of him and he felt like his skin was on fire.

Bree traced her fingers over his back. "What about?"

"Just the army. Other stuff." He told her, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked, not wanting to push him to much, but she also knew that talking about it helped.

"Just the same dreams, bodies on fire." He sighed, running a hand over his face. He was awake now, and knew the lack of sleep would get to him at work the next day.

"Come on. I'll make some tea.' She told him, getting to her feet and making her way into the kitchen. "What happened in the army?"

He ran his hand through his hair as he thought of the best way to word it, watching as she placed her hand against the kettle in order to boil the water. He had noticed her little habits like that. When it came to warm drinks she never boiled the kettle, but instead used her water manipulation to her advantage. "I kind of got blown up, I guess."

"Wait. What?" She frowned, glancing at him. She had never heard that story before.

"Well I survived but..." He trailed off. Ever since the incident he had never really felt the same, and it was weird. He didn't even understand how he had survived. Everything about it was unclear. "I guess I don't really know what happened. Why do you ask?"

"Curiosity." She shrugged. "You got pretty hot when you were sleeping.'

"I got really attractive?" He grinned at her, knowing very well that that wasn't what she meant.

"Shut up, you know what I meant. I'm surprised you didn't burst into flames." She rolled her eyes, sipping her tea. Jordan chuckled and shook his head before sipping his own tea.

Bree slowly linked her fingers with his hand, squeezing his hand lightly as she finished her tea, dumping the cup in the sink. Jordan smiled at the gesture before kissing her cheek, pulling her close. He could tell she was worried about him, and he didn't want her to feel that way. Aside from the occasional odd dream, he was pretty fine.

"I'll be fine." He assured her as he finished his tea, beginning to feel tired again.

"I know." She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder.

Jordan couldn't help but yawn, his eyes watering as he tried to keep them open. "We should head back to bed."

"I agree. I have a morning shift." She agreed, grabbing his hand and head back to the bedroom, flopping on the bed.

* * *

Lydia had to admit that she was thoroughly enjoying the pizza – and Tate's company. She'd agreed to the date because what was the worst that could come of it? She was getting a free feed, after all. She remembered what Ellie's brother had been like in high school – sleeping around with lots of girls, very popular and intelligent. Apparently he hadn't changed much since then. Once, Lydia would have been more than happy to pursue a purely sexual relationship with Tate. But things had changed, and so had she.

"This pizza is actually pretty good," she confessed, nibbling delicately at another slice of her pumpkin and feta pizza.

"Told you so." Tate flashed her a charming grin. "This place is awesome."

Every now and then Tate was able to make her laugh, which was something that seemed to be pretty rare these days. For the moment at least, Lydia could forget all the drama happening around Beacon Hills and her friends and just focus on her date. Until, of course, Tate just had to go and bring it up.

"I've been thinking on these Dread Doctors." Tate sipped at his beer, his expression one of contemplation. "So basically, they're creating these experiments using kids, right? I mean, Tracy Stewart was one of them?"

"Yeah, we think so," Lydia nodded slowly, wondering where Tate was going with this.

"She was having night terrors." Tate clasped his hands together on the table. "Then suddenly she developed these freaky abilities, out of nowhere. So she starts bleeding mercury and then the Dread Doctors decide she's a failure and kill her. Someone takes her body."

"Where is this headed?" Lydia asked wearily. She was in no mood to beat around the bush with this conversation.

"Ellie's been having nightmares." Tate leaned across the table, and she saw real fear in his blue eyes. "Ellie has suddenly developed freaky abilities out of nowhere. Are you seeing the dots connecting? Because I sure am."

Whatever Lydia had been going to say caught in her throat, and she suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. They'd all dismissed Ellie's new abilities as her being a late bloomer, as an indication that she was sylph. But hadn't they all thought Tracy had been a werewolf until her kanima tail had made an appearance? She hadn't started bleeding mercury yet, but there was every chance that Ellie might actually be a chimera.

"You…you think…"

"I'm not going to let that happen to her." Tate's voice was firm. "No one is killing her, and no one is taking her body. I don't care if she's a sylph or a chimera or something else."

"Have you told her your theories?" Lydia demanded, although she thought she already knew the answer, which was confirmed when Tate shook his head slowly.

"No. I didn't want to frighten her. She's already freaked at her new abilities, what would she say if she thought she was an experiment and that she was going to die? I just don't get how none of us have noticed."

"It's like sleepwalking, I think," Lydia said.

"Mum reckons she's been sneaking out at night." Tate raked his hair back, looking alarmed at the very real prospect that his sister might be a huge part of the mystery they were trying to solve. If they were right, she was the chimera to have survived the longest so far. If she wasn't a failure, was she a success? What was a success even meant to be?

"Did you want to look at the dessert menu?" Lydia asked, not really wanting to think any more about the supernatural. She was terrified for Ellie and the possibilities, but she just wanted to have one night where she could enjoy being a teenager and not have to think about her friends dying or getting hurt.

Tate offered her another dazzling grin. "Sure thing."

* * *

"What kind of chimera relies on electricity?" Ellie piped up from the passenger seat as Theo gunned it to the hospital. She had wanted to be included more, she was always saying it. So she appreciated it when Scott had called her to tell her that a couple of them were meeting at the school, where they'd found a bunch of cables that had been chewed on. Then they'd been bundled into the car upon finding out that the power had gone out at the hospital, where Lydia and Stiles were.

"Well, we don't know for sure that it's a chimera," Malia replied from the back seat, making the blonde turn in her seat to glance over her shoulder at the werecoyote. She knew that things had been strained between Malia and Stiles lately, and wondered why Malia wasn't at the hospital with her boyfriend.

"Reckon it's the Dread Doctors?" Ellie directed her gaze toward Theo now as they pulled into the hospital carpark. She kept trying to piece the puzzle together in her head. The Dread Doctors created chimeras. If the chimeras bled mercury, they were deemed a failure and put down by the Dread Doctors. But if they were failures, what was a success? It was weird enough that they could get through mountain ash barriers like they didn't exist.

"Not sure." Theo hopped out of the car, locking it behind him as they headed into the hospital. Ellie stilled as they walked into reception, overcome by sudden trepidation. There was someone on the roof. She didn't know why that particular fact mattered, aside from that she was so certain of it, like a GPS finding its final navigation point. She reached out and gripped Theo's sleeve.

"The roof."

He frowned, puzzled. "What?"

"I…I can't explain it. But I just know that it's important." Ellie chewed at her lip and stared up at him desperately. If it was anyone else, they probably would have brushed it off, but Theo's expression became determined instead. He grabbed Ellie's hand and rushed towards the lift. As soon as they stepped inside, he pushed the button for the top floor, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet this newfound ability troubled her. What was she sensing, exactly? She wasn't a banshee like Lydia, so it couldn't be death. She couldn't explain it, other than that whoever was on the roof was important to her. Once they hit the top floor, they ran for the stairs, heading up onto the roof to see what it was Ellie had sensed. For a brief moment she felt scared that she might have been wrong, that it was just an odd feeling…but then she saw two people fighting, and sucked in her breath. There was no doubting that the boy in the red hoodie was Stiles.

Theo moved more quickly than Ellie, hauling the dark-haired kid off Stiles and throwing him across the roof. The blonde balled her hands into ready fists as she watched the two of them fight. The chimera hurled Theo to the ground and raised his foot high, stamping down on his wrist hard enough to cause a nasty crunch. Theo groaned in pain, and it was all the encouragement Ellie needed. Her eyes flared purple and she charged at the chimera without thinking.

He spun around to face her, and she vaguely recognised him although she couldn't have said why. He raised his arm and swung wide, no doubt intending to knock her off her feet. Ellie ducked, avoiding the blow, but her intervention was enough of a distraction for Theo to grab a hold of the chimera again. She took a few steps back as she watched the two of them brawl, knowing that her boyfriend had the upper hand. Theo bared his teeth as he dug his nails into the chimera's neck and in one ruthless swipe, took out his throat.

Ellie gasped as she was splattered with blood. The chimera hit the ground hard, convulsing violently before falling still. There was blood all over the ground, blood covering Theo's hand. Everyone Ellie looked there was a crimson stain, and she felt nauseous. She swallowed down bile and forced herself not to think about it. If she did, she was pretty damn certain she was going to vomit.

"Stiles." Theo turned his gaze on the other boy, who had picked himself up off the ground. "Don't say anything. Please, you can't say anything."

"Why not?" Stiles asked. He glanced between the chimera's corpse, Theo and a silent, blood-stained, traumatised Ellie.

"Because I never said anything about Donovan."

Ellie flinched at the sparks from the power generator as well as Theo's words. He hadn't indicated to her that he knew what had happened at the school. She couldn't help feeling betrayed, even though she hadn't said anything a whole lot to Theo. Stiles gave her an accusatory look, and she averted her eyes.

"I know what happened to Donovan," Theo continued, "I know everything."

Stiles lunged, grabbing Theo by the front of the shirt and slamming him against the fence that blocked off the power generator. Ellie milled around uncertainly, watching the two boys, but she didn't want to get involved. Enough blood had been spilled tonight. She knelt down beside the chimera's body and gently closed his eyes.

"You don't know anything," Stiles insisted. It took only a moment for Theo to grab him by the hoodie and swing him around so that he was the one pressed against the fence instead.

"I was there, I was at the library," Theo exclaimed.

"Were you?" Ellie looked up from the chimera's body, surprised at this news. If he had been, why hadn't he interfered? She folded her arms over her chest, trying to forget that there was blood all over her face and in her hair. She was going to need a serious shower to get all of this off her. "Look, I'm gonna go wait in the car."

"Ellie…" Theo glanced over his shoulder at her.

"I said I'm gonna go wait in the car." Ellie swung around to face him, and by the surprise that dawned across his features, she guessed her eyes had probably gone purple again. She didn't have the patience to deal with this right now. Later, she'd have a discussion with Theo about exactly why he hadn't helped out at the school. But right now, she felt weary, the sort of tiredness that seeped into her bones. So she'd let Stiles and Theo bicker, but she wasn't going to be a part of that argument.

* * *

"I still think you shouldn't have killed him, Theo," Ellie muttered under her breath as they waited for Scott outside the vet clinic. She realised that it had been self-defence, but that clearly didn't mean she approved of his actions. She leaned against the car – they'd taken Stiles's from the hospital in the end, despite the fact that they were all sure it had a heap of problems.

"I did what I had to," Theo insisted, watching his girlfriend closely. She'd been on edge since she had figured out she was a supernatural creature, and he was still waiting for her to be calm enough for him to tell her that she was actually a chimera. He noticed Stiles watching them with suspicious dark eyes, and Theo put his arm around Ellie, holding her close.

"We should move the body inside for when Scott gets here," Ellie suggested, glancing between the two boys. "It's probably too heavy for me."

"I should be fine." Theo hauled the boy's body up, suppressing a smirk at the way his girlfriend's eyes lingered appreciatively on his biceps.

"Yeah, guess you did kill him," Stiles sniped, causing Theo to glare at him before he headed inside the clinic and set the body on one of the benches. He heard someone follow him, footsteps too heavy to be Ellie's. Glancing over his shoulder, he noticed that Stiles had followed him inside.

"So I don't tell Scott and you won't tell him about Donovan, right?"

Theo hadn't been certain whether Ellie knew about Donovan's fate, but if she'd been there with Stiles, he'd had to have explained it to her. He nodded slowly, before folding his arms over his chest. He knew that Stiles and Malia were having problems at the moment, but he didn't appreciate the extra attention that Ellie was getting from Stiles.

"Deal, but dude, stop staring at my girlfriend."

"Wait, what?" Stiles seemed to take a moment to process Theo's words. He held up his hands defensively. "Not interested. Like, not at all."

Theo exited the clinic and noticed that Ellie's wings had sprouted. They were a beautiful silvery-purple colour, and by the confused look on her face, she really hadn't meant for them to pop up. As he approached, she offered him a slightly shy smile.

"Umm, my wings are doing their thing again."

"It's cute," Theo said, finding himself fascinated by them. He'd never met a sylph before, which made up half of Ellie's chimera abilities.

"Yeah, I wish they wouldn't do it without my permission though," she murmured.

"Can I touch one?" Theo asked. The question astonished Ellie a little, but she nodded her consent. He reached out and ran his fingers gently over one of her wings. She shivered a little at his touch.

"I'm still having the nightmares," she declared, but her boyfriend was too fascinated by her wings to really hear her. She fiddled with her shirt irritably, clearly feeling constricted. "Wings make it very hard to wear a bra."

Theo glanced across at Stiles, noticing that he was watching the exchange. Suppressing a smirk, he leaned forward and kissed Ellie. She seemed a little surprised, but kissed back nonetheless. Stiles shifted his feet and looked away, uncomfortable either because of his own slowly failing relationship or because he found Ellie cute. Either way, he looked like he'd be relieved when Scott showed up. Theo was waiting for the right moment to relay the information about Donovan to Scott, to cause a rift between the two boys. Sooner or later, this pack would be his for the taking.


	9. Danger Zone

**Chapter Nine: Danger Zone**

* * *

 **A/N: About time for an update, right? This ended up being a pretty long chapter, hope you all don't mind :) Please let us know what you think - it's always so lovely to read your feedback!**

* * *

Bree glanced at her mother as she stirred the rice, making sure that it didn't stick to the bottom of the pan. She had been apprehensive about inviting Jordan over for dinner. Her family weren't exactly the most normal or the sanest. "So. What do you think, mum?"

Lara didn't look away from what she was doing, and Bree knew she was no doubt fussing over the meat. Her mother was a good cook, and often used it as a stress outlet, but she was also a perfectionist. "He's nice."

"Dad seems to like him." Bree paused in what she was doing, watching as her father and boyfriend were chatting to each other while setting the table.

"I smell food!" A few moments later Tate strolled into the kitchen, attempting to whistle a tune. He extended a hand to Jordan upon noticing him, a grin forming on his face. "I'm Tate."

"Jordan. Hi. Nice to meet you." Jordan shook his hand with a small smile, and Bree couldn't help but shake her head at her brother's messy appearance. He could've at least tried to look half decent.

Lara looked at her middle child as she began to place the dishes of food on the table. "Tate, where is your little sister?"

"No clue. Bree?" If anyone was going to know where Ellie had run off to it would be Bree. As much as the two sister's argued, Ellie still trusted her more when it came to not telling mum and dad where she was hiding.

"With Theo." Bree shrugged as she sat down beside Jordan, glancing across at Tate who was eyeing the food like a starving man who hadn't eaten for a week.

Lara sighed heavily, it was the one place Ellie always was these days. "Typical."

Tate began to throw food on his plate the moment he got the okay from his parents. It still amazed Bree just how much food a werewolf could consume in one day, and she didn't know how her mum had the patience to constantly be buying food. "So. You're a cop?"

"Sure am." Jordan nodded, beginning to dish himself some food.

Tate popped the top off his beer, taking a sip before asking his next question. "What's that like?"

"It's tough." Jordan shrugged, and Bree could feel that he wasn't really in the mood to talk about work. She wasn't sure why, but she made a mental note to grill him about it later.

"How'd you meet my pain in the ass sister?" Tate winked, waiting for Bree to blow up at him. He couldn't help the slight feeling of disappointment when she just ate her food quietly, staring at him.

"I got injured and went to hospital." Jordan answered, wanting to keep the details to the bare minimum. "Have you got a girlfriend, Tate?"

Tate raked a hand through his hair. "Sort of."

"He bangs anything that moves." Bree cut in, knowing it was the type of response Tate was expecting after his comment.

"That's just rude." Tate stated, sitting up straighter as if to make it seem like he was above her.

"Bree." Lara shook her head at her daughter's comment, though she had to admit it was correct. Not that she would say that to her daughter. "Tate's romantic life is his business."

"I had a date and it went well, thank you. I'm seeing her again." Tate sniped at Bree, shovelling a piece of bread into his mouth.

"Who's this?" Lara was surprised to hear that Tate had had a successful date, considering his usual escapades.

"Lydia." Tate answered her as he begun to help Bree clean the plates from the table. He knew the rules in the house, they all did. If mum and dad cooked, they cleaned or so help them all. They didn't like seeing their dad mad, but their mum was even scarier when it came to not doing chores.

"Ellie's best friend?" Lara raised an eyebrow, leaning back in her chair and having a sip of her wine. "Does she know this?"

"Not yet." Tate shrugged as Jordan took the plates from his hands and followed Bree into the kitchen. He went to follow for a moment, but then thought it not the best idea.

"Your family are nice." Jordan commented as he put the plates on the bench, glancing at Bree as she began to stack the dishwasher. Bree couldn't help but laugh at the comment, knowing just how mean her family could be. "What?"

"You got them on a good day." Bree grinned as she turned the dishwasher on, grabbing his hand and leading him upstairs. She was glad to be alone with him, especially after going through the hell of him meeting her parents, although it had gone a lot better than she had expected.

"What are they usually like?" He inquired, arching an eyebrow as he looped his arms around her waist from behind, looking around her room over her shoulder.

"They argue a lot." She told him, resting her arms over his. She always loved when he was affectionate, and especially loved the warmth he gave off. It was pleasant to sleep next to on cold nights.

"Tate has a sense of humour at least." He pointed out, kissing her cheek as he held her against him.

"That's true. Might be the drugs though." She shrugged, wondering if Tate had been smoking at all today or if he had decided to behave due to the fact that her partner was a cop.

"I should report him." Jordan grinned as he pulled away from her to flop back on the bed.

"Go ahead." Bree grinned back and Jordan simply shook his head. Both of them knew he wasn't being serious, not that Bree would've minded seeing Tate's face is Jordan did go cop mode on his ass. "Mum likes you."

"Does she like most people?" He raised an eyebrow, pulling her into his lap.

"Not when it comes to boyfriends." She smiled, kissing his cheek as they curled up on the bed together. She would be quite content to stay that way for the rest of the night, with the exception of removing her bra which was beginning to become quite annoying. "You're a very smooth talker. You know that right?"

"Isn't that a good thing?" He chuckled, running his fingers up and down her thigh lazily as she stretched out.

"Sometimes..." She trailed off, pressing her lips to his and shifting into his lap. "You staying the night?"

"If you want me to." He smiled, pulling her closer against him.

"Well, I would like you to. So I will let mum know." She told him as she hopped to her feet, shaking her ass at him as she wandered out of her room.

* * *

Ellie's stress was starting to show. She couldn't even focus on her photography or her art, and when she did find herself painting, it was always something to do with her nightmares, or her wings. While she wanted to believe that she was a sylph, she had the gut feeling that there was something more to her. The recurring nightmares, always featuring the same three figures, troubled her. She threw down her textbook with a heavy sigh, causing Theo to glance at her. Their study dates – proper ones this time – hadn't been going too well.

"I can't stop thinking about these nightmares." Ellie ran her fingers through her silky blonde hair. "I think something's wrong with me."

Theo sat up, closing his own book. "There's nothing with you."

"It feels like that," Ellie murmured, rubbing her arms. Theo's assurances did nothing to make her feel any better. She knew he was just trying to make her feel better, but until she found out what was going on, she was going to have those twisted knots in the pit of her stomach, the constant unease.

"I know why you're having your nightmares," Theo stated, making Ellie turn to glance at him so fast she almost got whiplash. At her accusing stare, he walked over and sat beside her on the bed. "Do you trust me?"

"I…I think so," Ellie murmured. She felt a bit betrayed that Theo knew something she didn't, something that he was only just sharing with her now. She would have felt so much lighter without being burdened by the unknown. She watched as Theo extended his claws and swallowed hard. She had a pretty good idea what was coming.

"I've never done this before," Theo admitted, gently sweeping Ellie's hair off the back of her neck. "If you don't want me to, that's okay. But I thought it might be better to show you than tell you."

"Show me what?" Ellie whispered, dreading the answer. There was a piercing pain in the back of her neck, making her gasp sharply as Theo dug his claws into the back of her neck. Then the room around her was spinning and she was seeing things that she had no recollection of.

It was a swirl of memories buried deep, things she had forgotten, but that her subconscious had forged into nightmares. Lying down on an operating table, being injected repeatedly, stumbling home with dirt beneath her nails, finding lost objects around Beacon Hills like she was on some kind of treasure hunt…she struggled to put together the pieces of the puzzle, but then Theo withdraw his claws from her neck. The room swam back into focus and she gripped her duvet cover with shaking hands. She felt nauseous as she tried to process what Theo had just dug up.

"What was that?" she asked, fingers gingerly touching the marks at the back of her neck as she swivelled to face him. "Those memories…where did they come from?"

"You're a chimera." Theo raked a hand through his hair. "I guessed when I saw what happened with Donovan at the school. It's very rare for born supernatural creatures to develop abilities that late."

"Like Tracy and the others?" Ellie demanded. Her hands were still shaking and she tried her best to stifle it. There was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as she thought about what happened to those kids. They bled mercury and then they died, someone collecting their bodies. She didn't want to believe that could happen to her. It terrified her, thinking she might be a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.

"All of the chimeras have two sets of DNA," Theo explained, something that Ellie could vaguely remember someone having mentioned before when they'd been researching the other chimeras. "You have two supernatural parents, each a different species, meaning you have two different sets of DNA. The Dread Doctors basically would have had to activate your dormant supernatural genes."

The more Theo talked about, the more it made sense. He knew a lot about the subject, leading Ellie to think he'd definitely been talking to Scott. But she felt sick at the realisation that her days could be numbered. She swallowed the lump in her throat and eased herself off the bed. She hadn't been born supernatural at all. She had been created, and it made feel like a thing rather than a person.

"Am I going to die too?"

"No, of course not," Theo insisted, but she wasn't certain if she believed that.

"How do you know that?" she snapped, throwing her hands up, "I'm this _experiment_ and you knew, but you never even told me."

"I didn't want to scare you." He pushed himself up too, taking her hands in his. She sighed, wanting to believe him but also angry that he hadn't told her. As shocking as the news was, she preferred confirmation over doubt. The knowledge that her nightmares had been based on something very real terrified her. Who knew if she was going to slip out in the middle of the night to see the Dread Doctors? She wondered exactly how much free will she had, and how much the Dread Doctors controlled her.

"So I'm half sylph, half…?" She waited for Theo to clarify, but he shook his head. Apparently he didn't know that. She wondered if finding things in places they weren't meant to be was some kind of supernatural gift, like how she had instinctively known that Stiles was on the roof at the hospital. "I could be a failure."

"You have an advantage," Theo assured her, kissing the top of her head. "Both of your parents are supernatural. Like I said, I think the Dread Doctors might have basically activated something dormant."

Ellie didn't exactly find that very pacifying, but at least he was trying. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. She wasn't going to be a failure. She wasn't going to die. But she was going to take down the Dread Doctors, the beings who had created her to serve some sort of bizarre purpose. Only…what were they trying to create?

* * *

"I'm so hungry." Bree mumbled through a mouthful of pizza as she sat beside Ellie on her bed. Lara and Deucalion had gone out to dinner without their children, leaving them to fend for themselves. This had resulted in the three of them getting pizza for dinner.

Tate shook his head at his older sister. "Jesus, how many pizzas do you want?"

"No clue. I'm just hungry." Bree shrugged, glancing at Ellie who had barely touched the slices of pizza on her plate. "El, you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine." Ellie mumbled, picking at her food in an attempt to gain an appetite.

Tate raised an eyebrow. Usually Ellie was trying to out-eat him, so this behaviour was out of character for her. "Been fucking Theo?"

Bree rolled her eyes at her brother, choosing to ignore the comment that he made. "Inappropriate. What's wrong?"

"Just stressed about school." Ellie sighed as she flopped back on her bed, well aware that Bree was glaring at her. "What?"

"You're lying." It was all Bree needed to say for Ellie's 'fine' demeanour to break. Both of her siblings could tell something was wrong, and both of them needed to know.

Ellie curled up on her bed, pushing her hair out of her face. "Who cares?"

"We care, El. You're our baby sister." Bree reminded her, stretching out beside her. "Come here."

Ellie moved into her sister's outstretched arms, curling up to her closely as Bree wrapped her arms around her protectively. "I'm okay."

"Want me to stay home tonight?" Bree asked, knowing that the answer was most likely going to bed yes based on how her sister was acting. Ellie nodded, burying her face in her sister's shoulder. "I can stay in your bed. Tate's too fat to fit too though."

"Hey!" Tate growled, not liking the face that Bree was insulting him in an attempt to cheer Ellie up.

"The bed won't fit three of us." Bree reminded him, gesturing down to Ellie who was curled up against her sister already.

Tate sighed in exasperation, rolling his eyes as he stole a pillow and made himself comfortable on the floor. "I'll take the floor."

* * *

With the results of much badgering of poor Dr Deaton in, Lara quietly crossed into the lounge room. She was disturbed by her findings, but knew she had to share them with her husband, as she was feeling at a loss. What was she even meant to do with the information she'd acquired? She'd been prepared for supernatural children, of course. But this was…something else.

Deucalion was looking through one of the family photo albums, making a small smile curve the corners of Lara's lips. Ever since he had gotten his sight back, Deucalion had never once taken it for granted. He knew what it was like to be in true darkness, and she would often find him looking over photos of their children when they'd been small. It was scary to think how young they'd been back then – Lara had been a scarce few months older than Ellie was now when she'd fallen pregnant with Bree.

It had all happened very fast. She touched her neck, fingers tracing over the barely-visible mark. It was very rare for werewolves to find a mate and subsequently mark them, but Deucalion and Lara had been teenage sweethearts – much to the chagrin of her parents. Then again, her parents had been so devastated after what had happened to Lara's younger sister, Olivia, that they hadn't invested much energy in being concerned about her relationship.

"We need to talk about Ellie," Lara announced, catching Deucalion's attention and making him glance over his shoulder.

"Her grades?" Deucalion asked, clearly preparing himself for the worst.

"No, something worse." Lara sat down on the couch opposite her husband, clasping her hands together. "She's an experiment."

"An experiment of who?" Deucalion's brow furrowed into a frown. Lara knew that he wasn't going to take this information very well, but he had to know. Even if it meant risking the homicidal side of him coming out again. Although, she really did hope he was past such nonsense.

"The Dread Doctors. She's a chimera of some kind."

"How did we not realise?" Deucalion shook his head slowly, and Lara had to admit that she felt guilty. She hadn't been paying her youngest much attention lately. "This is what's been happening when she thinks she has nightmares."

"I don't know." Lara's voice cracked. "I don't know how this happened to our baby."

"You know what's been happening to those kids, most of them end up dead." Deucalion's tone was grim. "All we can do is protect her from the Dread Doctors."

Lara raked her blonde hair back, determined to make sure she was keeping an eye on Ellie. Their youngest had been concerned about strange things going on, but they'd dismissed it as her sudden transformation into a sylph, and some nightmares. The truth was far more terrifying, and far more troubling.

"Does she know?" Deucalion asked.

"I don't know if she does." Lara swallowed the lump in her throat. "I don't want her to think she's a freak."

Her husband reached across and squeezed her hand. "She's special."

Lara smiled a little. "Of course she is."

Whatever Ellie was, they would deal with it. They already had two supernatural children, and although Ellie wasn't what they had anticipated, they could work it out. The only thing that Lara wanted now was to take down the ones who had done this to their daughter. To think that Ellie had been experimented on…it made her blood boil with anger. Lara was usually the calmer one between her and her husband – but her anger was apparently a frightening thing to behold. When it came to the Dread Doctors, Lara was furious.

* * *

Bree rolled over as she sunlight hit her in the face, lighting up the back of her eyelids as it drew her from her sleep. She yawned, rubbing her eyes as she glanced at Jordan who was still fast asleep beside her. She couldn't remember the last time the two of them had had a decent nights sleep without him waking the other up. He shifted slightly as she moved around, rolling over to grab her phone and check through her messages. She hadn't expected to find any, but both of her siblings had messaged.

Jordan wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his head on her shoulder. He kissed her cheek as she replied to her two siblings. "How are your siblings?"

Bree finished typing and sending her messages before setting her phone back down on the bedside table. "They're okay."

"You know about your sister, right?" Jordan asked as they shifted back into a comfortable position in the middle of the bed.

Bree nodded, wrapping her arms around him and resting her head on his chest. "Yeah, I do."

"I'm guessing your mum told you. Turns out the nightmares were real." He sighed, holding her close against him.

"I feel sorry for her." Bree admitted. She considered herself lucky that she knew what she was, and that she had had years to get used to her abilities.

"She'll be fine. She's tough like you." He assured her, running his fingers up and down her back. "How's Tate doing?"

"He's okay." Bree shrugged. She talked to Ellie more than she spoke to her brother.

"Taking things a bit more seriously?" Jordan asked, knowing that Tate was not one to take any situation seriously.

"Fortunately." She nodded, stifling a yawn. "I'm going back to sleep."

Jordan chuckled, watching as she rolled over and curled up in a ball. He was glad for a day off and liked Bree's idea of sleep. They didn't need to be up early, so why not enjoy their sleep in? "I totally agree."

* * *

"Did you seriously go on a date with Tate?" Ellie groaned as she and Lydia prowled through the shelves of the school library. Lydia had texted her best friend saying she thought she had an idea what Jordan might be. Jordan, Bree's boyfriend and all-round good guy. Jordan, who was the one taking the bodies of the teenage chimeras. Ellie really hoped her body wasn't soon to be added to that particular list. She shuddered, not wanting to voice her own anxieties.

"What?" Lydia glanced at the blonde, quirking an eyebrow. "He's not bad."

Ellie couldn't help but scoff. Her brother, not bad? Yeah right, that'd be the day. She had to admit he was pretty whipped when it came to Lydia, and she hadn't seen him take a girl so seriously for ages. He actually respected her, which made Ellie get on his case less about treating her right. She glanced across at her friend, who had paused on a particular page of the book she was looking at.

"I think I know what Jordan is." Her fingers traversed the picture on the page, and her next word was little more than a whisper. "Hellhound."

Lydia's entire body stiffened, and Ellie couldn't help but frown. She wondered if her best friend was going into banshee mode, but she didn't want to interrupt her if she was in the zone.

"Lyds?"

"You know what's coming, don't you?" The voice made both girls spin around to see Theo standing there. Something felt a bit off to Ellie, and she couldn't help but frown. Her boyfriend hadn't texted to tell her that he was rocking up to the library, so to see him here was a bit of a surprise.

"Someone's going to die here," Lydia said, making the blonde's head whip to the side to glance at her friend.

"Wait, what?"

"You're right. But I can't let you tell anyone." Theo's tone was ominous, making Ellie take a step forward. Before she could do anything, Theo backhanded Lydia across the face hard enough to send her to the ground. Ellie crouched beside her best friend, shocked at her boyfriend's actions, but Lydia was unconscious. She looked up at Theo, and a shiver ran down her spine at the realisation that his expression was ice cold. Pushing herself to her feet, she could feel a buzz of energy rushing through her, and knew her eyes would have changed to vibrant purple.

"You hurt my best friend," she hissed, wings sprouting and unfurling. Her supernatural side came out on instinct normally, but this was very much deliberate. She wanted Theo to know that his actions weren't appreciated. She wanted to let him know that she was ready for a fight.

"Ellie, not now," he insisted.

"Not now? Are you serious? What else are you keeping from me?" When he remained silent, her wings gave a single, sharp flap. "I asked a question. Several, actually."

"I'm working with them. The Dread Doctors."

Hurt stung through Ellie. Her boyfriend wasn't the nice guy she'd thought he was. How could he be working with the very people – or creatures – who had made her what she was, against her will? Whatever Theo had been, she was getting the very real feeling that he might actually be the enemy. It certainly explained how he'd known so much about her.

"The ones who experimented on me and the others. Did you bring me to them?"

"No, I didn't," Theo assured her, stepping forward and reaching out a hand as if to placate her. Ellie flinched away, still very much aware of the sudden violence she'd seen from him only moments before. "I'm a chimera too, okay? I'm not a werewolf. I'm part werewolf, part werecoyote."

Ellie lapsed into silence. She didn't know what to believe anymore. There had been so many lies. Did Theo even care about her, or had he only shown an interest because she was a chimera like him? She stayed in between him and Lydia, determined to protect her best friend from this guy, the Theo she obviously didn't even know.

"Leave Lydia alone."

"Move," Theo insisted, eyes narrowing at her defiance. What exactly had he expected? That he'd confess his sins and she'd willingly assist him?

"I'm not scared of you," she snarled. Theo stepped closer, his eyes glowing gold. He wasn't a tall boy, but he still towered over Ellie. She swallowed and met his gaze, and there was something dark there she hadn't seen before. A ruthless side to Theo. She didn't think she wanted to know what might happen if she pushed him too hard. He bared his teeth and growled and Ellie curled her wings around herself, hating the fact that she was a coward. She bit down on her lip hard as he stepped around her.

"Look, I know you don't trust me," Theo knelt down beside Lydia's immobile form, glancing over his shoulder at the tense blonde. "But you have to admit, your family hasn't been great about all of this. They just brushed off what was happening with you. I can help you, Ellie. Your abilities are unique, and I want you to be able to use them."

"You mean you want to use me," Ellie snapped, folding her arms over her chest. She had to admit that Theo's words were having an impact. None of her family had really batted an eyelid at her nightmares and her sudden sylph abilities. They'd shrugged her stress off. Theo had been the only one who'd listened to her, as much as she didn't want to confess that.

"Ellie, I care about you." Theo pushed himself to his feet, walking over and looping his arms around her waist. "That much isn't a lie. You're special. To me, to the Dread Doctors. You're scared you're going to die like the others? If you stick with me, you won't. I'll teach you. I'm still here, aren't I?"

"I guess so," Ellie said softly. Every time she wanted to think Theo was the bad guy now, he wore her down. She glanced down at the redhead, hoping that Theo wasn't going to hurt her. That she wouldn't stand for.

"She'll be fine, I just need her help with something." Theo took Ellie's hands in his. "Be a part of my pack, Ellie."

What were her options? If she refused, she could die like all of the other chimeras before her. She wanted to learn how to harness her abilities properly, what the other side of her was. Theo was the one who had the answers, and he was offering them to her. After a moment's pause, she nodded slowly.

"Okay. I'll do it."

Ellie took her phone out of her pocket, hitting Tate's name and starting to rattle off a message that she'd be staying at Theo's for a bit. Her parents probably wouldn't like it, but what were they going to do about it? She was eighteen, she was an adult now. They couldn't stop her. No one could stop her. It made her feel…powerful.

"But if you betray me…" Theo took the phone from her hand, easily crushing it. Ellie grimaced, more at the destruction of a nearly thousand dollar iPhone than because she was scared. She nodded vigorously.

"I get it."

* * *

Stiles was pacing agitatedly as he kept trying to call Scott, only to be met with his best friend's voicemail. Best friend? Were they still best friends, after what had happened? Scott had confronted him about Donovan and no matter what Stiles had said, it hadn't been good enough. He needed Ellie to back him up on this, but she was too busy at the school with Lydia. He'd tried to call her as well, but she also wasn't answering her phone. He was overcome by a wave of frustration, before the sound of tyres crunching over gravel made him spin around to see Theo parking his car.

"We've got to go now, Parrish has got the bodies, we've got to find Scott and we've got to tell him."

"Stiles!" Theo's shout made him pause, turning back around to face the other boy. "I don't think Scott wants to talk to you right now."

"Yeah, thanks, I'm aware," Stiles replied stiffly. There was no doubt in his mind that Theo – the guy he'd never trusted in the first place – was part of the reason his friendship with Scott was breaking down. "Look, you know what? Fine. How about Ellie then? I mean, her sister is dating the guy, right?"

"Ellie's busy," Theo replied cryptically. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Stiles's library card – the one that had gone missing the night Donovan had attacked him and Ellie at the school. "But I think your dad wants to talk to you. He was looking for you, Stiles, but he found me instead."

"Did you hurt him?" Stiles demanded, suddenly very concerned for his dad. He thought about what Theo had said about Ellie, and was worried about the small blonde too. Although she was Theo's girlfriend, it had become very clear that there was a dark side to Theo, one only Stiles had suspected so far. "Where's Ellie?"

"With me, where she should be." Theo smirked, but Stiles thought he must mean in terms of allegiance, because Ellie was nowhere in sight. He didn't know what could have prompted her to join Theo, unless she hadn't had a choice.

"Did you hurt _her_?" Stiles asked. Was there anyone that Theo hadn't hurt, whether physically or emotionally?

"So that's it!" Theo exclaimed, before he laughed mockingly, shaking his head. "You're mad because I was her choice, Stiles?"

"It's got nothing to do with that," Stiles snapped. He thought she was cute, but that wasn't why he was worried about her. Who Ellie dated had nothing to do with Stiles's current concerns.

"Your heartbeat's rising, Stiles." Theo's eyes glittered ominously. "I'll tell you where your dad is, if you promise not to help Scott. You don't have time to do both, so you have to make a choice. What's it gonna be?"

* * *

"Hey." Tate paused outside the door, watching Stiles sitting next to his dad's hospital bed. He'd come after getting a text from Stiles saying they needed to talk about Ellie, and he'd been concerned that it was his baby sister he'd find in one of these rooms. He frowned slightly as Stiles got to his feet, expression grim. "Is your dad gonna be okay?"

"We don't know yet," Stiles admitted, crossing over to the door and closing it behind Tate. "Have you heard from Ellie today?"

Tate shook his head. "Not a peep. Why?"

"Theo's not who we thought he was." Stiles's voice was frantic. "He's working with the Dread Doctors, he's a chimera. He's one of the bad guys, Tate."

"Wait, what?" Tate tried to process this information. He'd always disliked Theo. He'd thought the kid was your generic high school jerk, not _actual evil_. It had been bad enough when his mum had confirmed his suspicions on Ellie's chimera status, but now Theo was one as well? "So what's this got to do with Ellie?"

"She's with him," Stiles explained, raking his hands through his hair. "I don't know if that's willingly or not. Theo just said she was."

Tate stiffened. If Theo was really as bad as Stiles said he was, surely Ellie wouldn't join him of her own free will. Which meant she'd been practically kidnapped. Was that why she and Theo had formed such a strong connection, because they were both chimeras? That couldn't be it, because she definitely hadn't bonded as strongly with any of the others. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he called Ellie, only to be met with her voicemail.

"Elizabeth Viola Connor, you pick up your damn phone, okay? We're worried about you. Please just…call back."

Tate wanted to be angry at Ellie for not picking up, but the truth was that he was deeply concerned. Ellie was usually pretty good with answering texts and calls. He hoped she might just be busy, with something that wasn't Theo, and give him a call back. Licking his lips, he heaved a sigh, tilting his head back.

"Cheers, Stiles. I'll get onto it." He headed toward the door, glancing over his shoulder as Stiles settled by his dad's bedside once again. "I hope everything goes okay with your dad. He's a good dude."

"Yeah, so do I," Stiles said quietly.


	10. Sink Your Teeth In (M)

**Chapter Ten: Sink Your Teeth In**

* * *

 **A/N: So there are some big things starting to happen in this chapter, and it also marks the transition from 5A to 5B! As usual a huge thank you to those who reviewed, favourited and followed - you're the best! Hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

* * *

Theo had asked Ellie to meet him out at the Beacon Hills Preserve with enough food from Burger King to feed six people. Was he hungry enough for six people? Or was he expecting company? She'd initially waited in her car, drumming her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel, before she'd gone looking for him. She could sense where he was – or rather, where Lydia was. Ellie had come to view this odd kind of 'find my iPhone but for people' sense of hers with acceptance, thinking it might be part of the other half of her chimera physiology.

She was beginning to regret leaving the burgers and chips in the car when her stomach rumbled, but pushed on. In the dim moonlight she could see the Nemeton – but that wasn't what made her press her hands over her mouth to suppress a gasp. There were bodies strewn all around the Nemeton, the bodies of the chimeras who had died. So this had been where Jordan had been taking them. But why? Lydia, her best friend, looked like she'd collapsed on the ground as Theo paced around the Nemeton like a caged beast, injecting a few of the chimeras with some kind of serum from a syringe.

"What the hell?" Ellie demanded, hurrying across to kneel by Lydia's side. Her best friend was cold to the touch, and Ellie glared accusingly over at Theo as some of the chimeras started to get up. She examined the teenagers who'd been inexplicably brought back from the dead – Tracy Stewart, Hayden Romero, Josh Diaz and Corey Bryant.

"Who are you?" Tracy asked. All of them looked very confused and disorientated – which considering they'd been brought back from the actual dead, didn't exactly surprise Ellie.

"I'm your alpha, and all of you?" Theo gestured to all of them with the now empty syringe, and Ellie didn't fail to note that his gaze rested solely on her. "All of you belong to me."

It was clear that he considered her part of this pack, that she also belonged to him. Pushing herself to her feet, Ellie stalked over to Theo. She was angry at him, angry that he'd hurt Lydia. Her best friend was completely unresponsive, and she didn't know what Theo had done, but it was bad. She hissed furiously, eyes flaring violet as she swung her arm forward – only Theo caught her wrist hard before she could strike him.

"Really, Ellie?" He tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows as she tried to tug herself free. He pulled her forward instead, so that she staggered against him. "Don't play indignant. Lydia's going to be fine. If I wanted her dead, I'd have killed her. But I did kill Scott McCall tonight."

"You're a monster," Ellie spat. Yet despite knowing what he was and what he could do, there was a dark part of her that still didn't want to leave. Part of her was still drawn to Theo, and she felt guilty realising that.

"So are you." Theo smirked, reaching out to tuck a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Little Ellie. Everyone always thought it'd be Tate who'd take after Deucalion, I bet. But it's you. You've got your dad's darkness, and you'd be lying if you denied that."

"I should get home to my family," she protested.

Theo laughed mirthlessly. "Your family aren't going to want you there. Not after everything that's happened tonight. You helped me, whether you'll admit that or not. Plus there's the fact that you're a chimera. They think you're a freak."

Ellie flinched at the word, but she was silent because she couldn't argue with what he was saying. What would her parents and her siblings think of her now? She was an accomplice to murder and other crimes as well. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she remembered all of the bad things she'd said about her dad. She was a coward, because she was afraid of being judged. She was scared that Theo was right, and that her family wouldn't be accepting of her. He softened at the sight of her crying.

"But you're not. We have a pack now, Ellie. Others like us." He stepped back, releasing her wrist but offering her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at Lydia, knowing that she couldn't leave her best friend here.

"We need to get her help, Theo."

"There's an ambulance on the way right now," Theo insisted, and Ellie linked her fingers through his. It still felt wrong to leave Lydia, but she couldn't help her. She had no way to save her, because her touch couldn't heal. The only thing she was good at was destruction, so it looked like she belonged with Theo after all.

* * *

Bree let out a heavy sigh as she walked in the door of her house, dumping her bag on the floor. It was painfully heavy due to it being full of dirty clothes that she needed to wash, not wanting to do it at Jordan's. She raked a hand through her hair as she kicked it out of the way before shutting the door and making a beeline for the kitchen, where she knew there would be coffee, not expecting Tate to be on the phone in the middle of what seemed to be an important conversation. Not that she cared if she was being honest.

"I don't know where she is, Mum, okay?" Tate ground out in frustration before hanging up the phone, looking at his older sister who was staring at him in confusion.

"What happened?" Bree asked, sipping at the coffee in her hands.

Tate leant against the bench, shoving his phone in his pocket. "Ellie's been missing for a few days."

"What?" Bree hadn't heard anything from her family about Ellie missing, and the two didn't talk often enough for her to have noticed herself. "Where'd she go?"

"If we knew we wouldn't have this problem." Tate rolled his eyes, the sarcasm in his tone evident. "She hasn't fought with anyone and had a tantrum. She was last seen at the school."

"Can you track her at all?" She asked him, putting her empty mug in the sink. What was the use of being a werewolf if you didn't use your enhanced senses when they were needed?

Tate shrugged. It wasn't something he had really considered. "Maybe. I'd need something she wears a lot."

"Check her room." She told him, following him as he trailed up to Ellie's room, having no doubt in her mind that Tate would sook if there were bras and other 'girly' things strewn around the room.

Tate searched around the room before settling on a jacket, glancing at Bree who was leaning in the doorway. "She isn't answering any calls or texts."

"I'm sure she's okay." Bree sighed, hoping that it was just Ellie having a dramatic teenage moment and that she wasn't in any real trouble.

"Really? She was last with Theo." Tate pointed out, knowing that wherever Theo was, trouble was bound to follow. "But yeah, I'm sure she's fine."

Bree threw her hands up in exasperation. Their sister was missing, and they didn't have the slightest clue as to where she could be. How could Tate expect her to have any answers? "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know, okay? Suddenly our sister is like...this experiment, this freak." Tate snapped back at her, raking a hand through his hair.

"Don't call her a freak." She told him through gritted teeth. She hated that word, and although she and Ellie didn't always get on, her sister didn't deserve to have her family calling her a freak.

"I'm sorry. She isn't a freak. She's just a kid." He ran a hand over his face, watching as Bree rested a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll find her." She assured him, kissing his cheek.

He smiled slightly at the gesture, pulling her into a bear hug. All three of them had been tense with each other lately, not allowing for the sweet moments. "She's not the sort of girl to just run off with her boyfriend."

"I know she isn't." Bree returned the hug, rubbing his back as they stood there for a moment enjoying each other's presence. They may have fought like cat and dog, but they were all close and got along when they wanted to.

"Your man still running around with bodies?" Tate asked as he drew back from the hug, moving over to the fridge as his stomach started to grumble.

Bree nodded, jumping up on the bench. "Sure is. I don't know how to help him."

"We all have weird partners hey." Tate couldn't help but chuckle at that as he shoved some leftover pizza into his mouth. "Lydia's not doing so well."

Bree had remembered Jordan telling her about what had happened with Lydia and how he'd been the one who had taken her to the hospital. She had put it on her mental list to go visit the girl when she was working, but she had admittedly been distracted with study, helping Jordan and now Ellie's disappearance it seemed. "Coma?"

"Theo induced." Tate all but growled through his mouthful of food. "Reckon he might have kidnapped Ellie?"

Bree hadn't really thought of that as an option, but she didn't see why someone like him wouldn't be capable of it. He was rather unhinged. "It's very possible."

"Then I can kill him? Yay!" Tate grinned at her, grabbing a beer to wash the pizza down. "Wanna help?"

"I don't know if I'm the killing kind." Bree shook her head. She was training to save people, not to run around killing them – even though killing Theo after everything he had put Ellie through so far did sound like a glorious idea.

"Suit yourself."

* * *

It was sort of strange, a group of kids living at Theo's place. The chimera pack, as Ellie had affectionately come to refer to them. She'd asked about his parents, but apparently they'd left town and weren't his _real_ parents anyway. Despite not knowing exactly how to feel about that, Ellie had been exhausted and all too eager to have a shower after everything that had happened in the library and at the reserve.

The warm water was soothing on her skin, and Ellie took the opportunity to wash away the dirt that had collected on her body. Rinsing the suds from her blonde hair, she mulled over the other chimeras. The only other senior aside from her and Theo was Tracy Stewart. Then there was a junior called Josh Diaz – the same chimera that Theo had killed on the roof of the hospital that night. Then two freshmen, Corey Bryant and Hayden Romero. From what little Ellie knew about the two, she knew a romance was blossoming between Hayden and Scott's beta, Liam Dunbar. She wondered how Theo would feel about that.

The taps squeaked slightly as she turned the water off, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around herself. Part of her worried what her family would think, if they were concerned about where she was – but probably not. They likely made their own assumptions about her staying with Lydia or something. It wasn't like she had a phone anymore to check if they were messaging or calling her.

She tugged out a hairdryer and started drying her tousled hair, aware that she hadn't exactly brought many of her own things to Theo's – just whatever had been in her bag at the time. Maybe she'd head home to grab some more things, but right now she had to make do with the spare change of clothes in her backpack. She washed her dirty clothes in the sink, hanging them over the shower to dry. Tugging on her clothes and patting down her hair, she exited the bathroom.

"Finally," a male voice drawled. She glanced over her shoulder to see Josh waiting in the hallway, rolling his eyes dramatically. "You know, some of us need to wash the general feeling of being dead."

"Right." Ellie gave him the thumbs up. "Let me know how you go with that."

"You really think you're something, huh." Josh folded his arms, examining her contemptuously. He was probably similar in height to Tate, otherwise known as a lot taller than Ellie. She met his glare resolutely, wondering exactly why this guy had a problem with her. "You're just the same as the rest of us, Elizabeth. The difference is that you didn't go through what we did."

"Hey." Ellie held her hands up defensively. "I'm not the one with an issue here. So if you've got one, maybe try spitting it out instead of getting all passive aggressive with me."

"I don't know, maybe it's the fact that you seem to think you're all that." Josh narrowed his eyes, confusing Ellie. She didn't know when she'd acted like that toward him, or maybe it was the fact that Theo treated Ellie with more compassion than the others.

"Um, I don't," Ellie responded flatly.

"Whatever." Josh shrugged his shoulders. "One day, you'll figure out that you're just as dispensable as the rest of us."

Ellie wanted to ask what he meant by that, dispensable to who, but Josh had already slammed the bathroom door behind him. Traipsing down the hallway, Ellie slipped into Theo's room and was actually relieved to find it empty. He must be out, or with one of the other chimeras. Despite the fact that the shower should have energised her, Ellie just felt tired. She wanted to let the others know about Lydia – but oh yeah, no phone. Her loyalties were divided and she hated it.

Punching the pillow in frustration, she then clutched it close to her and took a few deep breaths. She was going to be okay. Lydia would be fine. Ellie flopped back on the bed, curling on her side. Maybe if she took a nap, she would wake up and things would have magically resolved themselves. If only.

* * *

Theo tapped lightly on his bedroom door, very much aware that Ellie had been taking a nap in there. When he heard her mumble something, he took that as the opportunity to walk in with a few plastic containers of food. Ellie sat up and rubbed her eyes as he shut the door behind him. Of the chimeras, she was the one who was most likely to get rebellious. So she was the one whose trust Theo needed the most.

"We ordered Chinese. Do you want some?"

"What time is it?" Ellie inquired, but her eyes widened at the sight of food. He set the containers down on the bed and handed her a fork, letting her pick at it as she chose.

"Almost seven. You were out for a while."

Ellie was too busy scoffing some sweet and sour pork to reply. For a small girl, she certainly ate a lot of food. Theo sat down beside her, picking lightly at the food with his own fork. The others were being surprisingly domestic and had actually engaged in a game of Monopoly – or the game that ruined friendships, as Corey called it – in the lounge room. They owed him because he'd literally brought them back from the dead. Ellie, on the other hand, didn't owe him a thing…and she was very much aware of that.

"Do you want to borrow my phone and let your parents know you're at mine?" Theo offered as Ellie continued to shovel down food. "You can just say your phone died so you didn't have the chance to message them."

"No." Ellie shook her head slowly, setting her fork down. "I don't really have the energy to deal with them tonight. I'll message tomorrow."

Theo knew that breaking her phone hadn't exactly been the smartest idea he'd had, but he couldn't let her alert anyone else as to what was going on. She knew what he was and hadn't turned away, and he had to trust that meant she was going to stick with him. Theo could tell that she hated herself for staying him, but he had to convince her that everything he'd done had been in their best interests.

"Hey." Theo tipped Ellie's chin up. "I care about you, okay?"

"You killed Scott," Ellie reminded him, eyes examining him mistrustfully. "You left Lydia at the reserve. I can get some of the things you've done. But those things? You want me to believe you care when you did those things?"

Theo collected up the containers and stacked them on his bedside table, making sure that he had Ellie's full attention. He took her hands in his and she couldn't help but look at him again. Despite the awful things he'd done, Ellie knew that her dad was no better. If she called Theo a monster, then Deucalion must surely be one too.

"You'll get it one day," he assured her. He moved closer, watching to see how she reacted as he pressed his lips to hers. At first Ellie remained unresponsive, but then she was kissing back, wrapping her arms around his neck. As he deepened the kiss, she pressed closer against him, letting him set her back on the pillows.

Theo kissed down Ellie's neck as the blonde giggled beneath him. He'd slept with two other girls before her, but it hadn't been like this. They'd been casual relationships, yet what he had with Ellie…he hadn't ever felt this way about someone. It wasn't something as easily defined as love, more like a deep lust. If he had to name it, he'd probably call it an obsession. He'd craved her ever since they'd first kissed, although he was at a loss to explain why.

Her neck seemed to be a sensitive spot, because she squirmed and gave a little sigh, arching back to expose her throat, blonde hair fanning out across the pillow. Theo's lips trailed across her shoulder and collarbone. He sucked lightly at her pale skin, knowing that he was going to leave marks there. The thought, for some reason, was wildly appealing. It was the wolf in him, dangerous and primal, that wanted to possess her entirely. Theo slipped a hand up under the fabric of her shirt to grope at her breast, making Ellie gasp. He found himself very appreciative of the fact that she didn't wear bras often because of her wings.

Impatiently, he shoved her shirt up, kissing his way up her stomach to the swell of her breasts. He took a nipple in his mouth, making the blonde give a delighted whimper as his hand fondled her other breast. Ellie squirming beneath him was only serving to make a lot hornier, especially when she kept bucking against his erection. When he drew back to look at her, the knowing smirk playing about her lips to the fact that she knew she was turning him on.

Ellie reached down to rub him through the fabric of his jeans, before undoing his pants and sliding them down his hips. Theo was impatient to reciprocate, tugging her undies down her slim legs. He wanted to dominate her, to make her scream his name. As much as she'd never minded it rough, Theo had to remind himself that she didn't heal like some of the others, that she was small and breakable. Apparently he didn't need to worry, Ellie nudged him off her. She ignored his surprised look, pushing him back so that he was sitting pressed against the headboard, and straddling his lap. Theo's confusion gave way to intense desire as he realised Ellie wanted to be on top.

Ellie shifted a little, positioning herself, before she slid down onto him. Theo couldn't quite restrain a guttural groan. It felt so good to be inside her. He rested his hands on her hips, guiding the blonde into a steady rhythm. She ran her hands down his muscular chest as he pressed hot kisses along her neck, bucking his hips against her and making her moan softly. His hands roamed the curves of her body, gripping her ass to tug her closer against him. The motion made Ellie moan loudly as he slipped deeper within her.

She pressed tighter against him, breasts brushing his chest as she fisted a hand in his hair. Every roll of her hips was accompanied by a low moan, her head arching back. Her eyes were closed as she let herself give into the pleasurable sensations she was feeling. Theo smirked, continuing to rock against her. Her thighs tightened around his waist and he could tell that she was close.

Theo palmed at her bouncing breasts, the bed squeaking beneath them at the vigorousness of their lovemaking. He was beginning to lose control, gritting his teeth and pumping into her hard and fast. Ellie dug her nails into his shoulders, crying out as she reached her orgasm. As his own climax hit, Theo felt a surge of raw lust and the desperate need to possess her entirely, and he bit into her neck as he gave a few last shallow thrusts.

 _She's mine._

Ellie's body tensed against him and Theo withdrew his teeth, flopping back and panting. Both of them were covered in a light sheen of sweat. He only realised he'd done something very much out of the ordinary when he watched Ellie. The blonde climbed off his lap, wincing as her fingers sought out her neck.

"What did you do to me?" She sounded scared, her voice small as her fingers came away crimson. "Theo?"

He leaned forward to inspect her and realised with shock that he'd actually broken the skin and made her bleed. This wasn't a playful, passionate nip. This was something far bigger, and dread weighed his stomach down as he realised what it could be. It was something rare, something he never would have thought himself capable of. He couldn't be certain, but the words were blurted out anyway.

"I think I marked you."

"Wait, you what?" Ellie demanded, folding her arms over her chest when he remained silent. "My dad marked my mum, Theo. It's pretty serious shit. We're eighteen."

Theo leaned back, raking a hand through his hair. He hadn't wanted this anymore than Ellie had. His heart was hammering in his ribcage and for once, he didn't know what to say, what words were going to make this uncomfortable situation any better. Werewolves only ever marked one person in their lives and for some messed up reason, the werewolf part of him had decided that was Ellie Connor.

* * *

The smell of bacon wafter into the bedroom as Bree continued to roll around in the sheets, not wanting to get out of bed. Getting out of bed meant that she had to start her day, and she wanting nothing more than to just sleep. Sleep was a lot more exciting than studying, but she knew which was more important at the current point in time. She let out a groan as she pulled herself from the bed, stretching and listening to her joints crack before wandering into the kitchen.

Jordan glanced over his shoulder from where he was standing at the stove, pushing the bacon around so that it didn't burn. "Hey."

"Morning." Bree wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing his cheek as she watched him cook.

"How are you doing?" He asked her, shifting the bacon from the pan to the two plates he'd set on the kitchen bench.

"Could be better." She mumbled, burying her face in his shoulder as she yawned again.

"What's up?" Jordan put the pan down, turning around so that he was facing her, his arms circling around her waist.

"'My sister." She sighed heavily, resting her head on his chest as he rubbed her back in a comforting gesture. She could stand like this all day and be quite content. Although her stomach was telling her she needed to eat.

"She's still missing?" He asked, glancing down at her as she nodded. He hadn't heard anything new, but he did know that the police were now involved with everything going on with her. "Ah."

"That smells good." Bree pulled away from him, looking over his shoulder at the two plates that had food piled on them. She needed a distraction from everything going on. "Thanks, babe."

"You're welcome." He smiled at her as she grabbed the two plates and cutlery, moving over to the table and putting them down before sitting down heavily in one of the chairs.

Bree started picking at the food the moment they'd both sat down. She ate slowly, glancing across at Jordan as he scoffed his food down as elegantly as possibly before gathering his plate to start the dishes.

He continued to pile up the dirty dishes, glancing over his shoulder and raising an eyebrow at Bree as he felt her eyes boring into his back. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're attractive." She winked, earning a chuckle from him.

Jordan turned back to the dishes, starting to scrub the bacon grease from the pan. "How's work been?"

"Tiring. Study is worse. I'd rather break every bone in my body than face it right now." Bree muttered, wanting nothing more than for her degree to be over. She pushed herself to her feet and moved to stand beside him, grabbing a cloth and beginning to dry the clean dishes. "How's work for you?"

"Really hectic. Everyone's kinda freaked out about me." He shrugged, putting the last of the dishes onto the dish rack.

Bree hung up her tea towel before pulling him close, kissing his cheek. She felt sorry for him. She was lucky enough to have grown up with a supportive network of people, and people who were able to help her understand her abilities. Jordan didn't have anything like that, he mainly just had her and Scott's pack. "Well, I don't think you're a freak."

"Well, when everyone in your family is a supernatural creature..." He pointed out, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. "Supernatural creatures aren't really freaks to you."

"I just think it's funny." She admitted, watching as he raised an eyebrow in question, realising she thought that his abilities were funny. Which she didn't at all. "That you're all fire like and I control water."

"True." He chuckled, noticing the irony in it all. They were complete opposites in some ways, so he guessed it was true in what people said in that opposites attract.

* * *

Tate examined his lunch with a sense of pride. He should be on a cooking program, that was for sure. Nachos with pulled pork, refried beans and feta cheese…man, he was good. He inhaled his delicious meal, grinning happily. He started to pick at it when he heard the front door open, almost spitting out his nachos when Ellie walked in like she hadn't been missing for a few days.

"Ellie? What the fuck?"

"I'm sorry." She picked at the hem of her shirt, unable to meet his eyes. "I couldn't text or call."

"Do you know how fucking worried we were?!" Tate seethed. He couldn't believe she was treating this so casually. They'd even gotten the police involved. No one had known where Ellie was, and now she just rocked up home like it was no big deal. Tate had been on some wild benders in his life, but he'd always managed to let someone know where he was or when he'd be home.

"I said I'm sorry, okay?" Ellie snapped, sliding her broken phone onto the bench. "I've been with the other chimeras."

"And Theo," Tate spat. He'd had the feeling that Ellie's toxic boyfriend was responsible for the fact that she hadn't come home.

"What about Theo?" Ellie asked, scratching at her neck. Something there caught Tate's attention and he gripped her wrist, making the blonde flinch. She was attempting now to cover whatever was there.

"What did he do?" Tate demanded. Ellie reluctantly lowered her hand, showing him what was clearly a bite mark – and not the kinky kind. He reared back as if the bite was some kind of infectious disease. "What the fuck is that?!"

"Can you like, not be overdramatic?" Ellie asked, folding her arms over her chest and scowling at him.

"He marked you!" Tate said. He knew that he was stating the obvious, but this was possible the worst news of all time. He knew their dad had marked their mum, probably when they were similar age to Ellie now. But that was different.

"But it's not a big deal, right?" Ellie questioned, eyes pleading with him to just shut up about it.

"It's a huge deal, Ellie." Tate shovelled down some more nachos to recover from this atrocity. "He marked you as his mate, _for life_. It's like getting married without having a ceremony."

"Oh my god, no it's not!" Ellie exclaimed, fisting her hands in her hair as if she was about to rip some out. Obviously this was as stressful for her as it was for Tate. "Stop. It's complicated, okay? He's not full on evil. If he was, would I still be with him?"

"Yes." Tate nodded vehemently, but offered her some nachos as compensation for doubting her morals. "Probably."

"Well, as you can see, my phone is fucked." Ellie gestured to it, and Tate had to wonder whether that was Theo's doing as well. It wouldn't surprise him. The guy was sounding more controlling and possessive by the second. "I only came back because I wanted to let you know that I'm alright."

"I'm going to need to call everyone and let them know you're okay," Tate stated, glancing between Ellie and his mouth-watering creation on the bench before sighing. "You can have _some_ of my nachos. But not all of them."

Ellie fidgeted anxiously. "Um, how's Lydia? Also is Scott really…?"

"Dead?" Tate finished for her, shrugging his shoulders. "Nah, he pulled through. As for Lydia...you might want to sit down for this."

* * *

"Finally." Tate threw his hands up dramatically as Bree walked into the lounge room, dumping her bag on the couch.

"I was with Jordan. Chill." She rolled her eyes at him, pushing her hair out of her face as she glanced at Ellie who was happily seated on the couch. "You're finally home. I told you she'd be fine."

"Look at this." Tate moved over to their younger sister, grabbing a piece of her blonde hair and yanking it away from her neck so that Bree could see the bite mark on her neck. Ellie attempted to bat Tate's hands away, but Bree had already moved over to the two of them, grabbing her wrist so that she could look at her sister's neck without Ellie hitting her in the face. Bree didn't have to be a werewolf to know what had gone on. The bite mark on her neck was deep enough to break the skin, but nowhere near deep enough to be life threatening.

"He marked you."

"Yeah I realised that." She snapped, shoving both of her siblings away for her. She was sick of them treating her neck like it was a show and tell between the two of them. She knew what had happened and roughly what it had meant and she was freaking out enough already.

"Fuck, Ellie." Bree breathed out, shaking her head. She knew their parents were going to flip when they found out what had happened to their youngest child, and she did not want to be there to witness that.

"I didn't exactly tell him to, God!" Ellie yelled at them both before grabbing a pillow and hugging it in front of her, glancing at her older sister as she got what she assumed was some antiseptic. Bree always was the one cleaning the family up when they were injured, regardless of how minor the injuries were. "Can you explain better than Tate? Because he said it's like marriage without a ceremony and that's fucking scary."

"Well, it is…" Tate trailed off. If anyone was going to know what it meant out of the three of them, it was going to be him. He was the werewolf after all. Bree ignored the sarcasm in her brother's tone as she dabbed at Ellie's neck lightly with the antiseptic. She wanted to clean the blood away that had dried over it so that she could get a better look at it.

"Tate is right."

"We've only been dating a few months." Ellie mumbled, wincing as the antiseptic stung on her neck.

"Hey, my explanation was way less creepy than dad's." Tate pointed out, flopping on the couch across from them and stretching out.

Bree glanced between her siblings. She wasn't aware that their parents knew, but she guessed at least she wouldn't be around to witness the pissing match if they already knew. "What was dad's?"

"That because Theo and I are both the only successful Dread Doctor chimeras so far, marking me is ensuring viable, strong offspring or something really fucked up and creepy like that." Ellie scrunched up her nose as she rattled off what Deucalion had told her. She was trying her hardest to forget it, having been rather freaked out by it. She was too young to be dealing with it all. She just wanted to be a normal teenager.

Tate smirked at her, using her mark to rile her up. "Planning for kids?"

"I'm eighteen, Tate, fuck off." Ellie clenched her jaw, crossing her arms over her chest. It was hard enough for her as it was without him teasing her.

"Stop it both of you. This isn't helping." Bree told them both. She was good at playing the parent out of the three of them. "Ellie, I'm gonna have to try and heal this."

"Will it heal up completely?" Ellie asked, watching her as she sat down beside her with a glass of water.

"No. It'll scar." Bree answered, her eyes glowing as she poured the water over Ellie's skin, concentrating on letting the water stitch the skin back together. Ellie wriggled as it worked its magic, making it harder for Bree to concentrate on controlling it. "Stop it. You're making this harder."

Ellie stopped moving, tapping her fingers lightly on her leg. "Sorry."

"Done." Bree announced, pulling away from her sister so she wasn't practically sitting in her lap. She could heal the physical wound, but Bree knew that this was a lot more complicated than a surface problem.


	11. Beast Mode

**Chapter Eleven: Beast Mode**

* * *

 **A/N: So about time for an update, right? Thank you again to everyone who's reviewed, it really does mean a lot. Please keep letting us know your thoughts.**

* * *

Ellie walked into Theo's place with a few boxes of pizzas balanced precariously atop her arms. Although things were still a bit awkward since Theo had marked her, and she was definitely questioning where her loyalties lay, she still wanted to make sure the rest of her pack were at least eating. Theo and Josh were sprawled on the lounge gaming, prompting her to roll her eyes. Typical boys.

"Hey, babe." Theo glanced at her, pausing the game and putting the controller down. Ellie set the pizzas down on the bench and opened the boxes, letting the delicious aroma of them waft through the kitchen and lounge.

"Did you get a Hawaiian?" Josh demanded, swooping into the kitchen and examining the boxes of pizza.

"Yeah." Ellie wrinkled her nose at the faintly familiar scent rolling off him. "Whoa, you smell like drugs, what have you been taking?"

Josh shrugged, helping himself to a slice of Hawaiian. "Nothing that actually had an effect."

"Do you have vegetarian?" Tracy inquired, heading in to have a look at what Ellie had brought back. The blonde glanced over her shoulder at the other girl and tipped her a wink, handing her the box.

"Sure do." When Theo approached to get his hands on some pizza, Ellie raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. "You're encouraging them to take drugs now?"

"It doesn't do anything to us," Theo said. It was becoming apparent to Ellie that he thought they were some kind of gods, supernatural creatures who were powerful and strong, impervious to mountain ash. Ellie wasn't entirely sure she liked the message that was sending to the other pack members.

"You staying the night?" Josh asked through a mouthful of pizza.

Ellie chewed at her lip. While she came and went as she pleased, it was pretty apparent that the rest of the pack thought she belonged with them. Of course, considering most of them had been literally resurrected from the dead and their leader wasn't exactly what Ellie would call fully sane, she couldn't say she blamed them.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. My parents want me home."

Josh scoffed. "Since when did you care?"

"Leave her alone, Josh," Tracy chastised. Ellie sat down on the couch between her and Theo, helping herself to some Meatlovers pizza. Theo slipped an arm around her, but for some reason it didn't feel as comfortable as usual. There was something else on Ellie's mind, something she very much held Theo accountable for but that she didn't want to address in front of the pack.

"Can we talk in private?" she asked.

"Sure." Theo got up from the lounge and headed into the passage, Ellie following close behind him. Once they were alone, she grabbed him by the front of the shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"Lydia is catatonic," she snapped.

"Excuse me?" Theo held up his hands.

"She's catatonic and in Eichen House." Ellie released him and took a step back. "Because you decided to go digging with your claws."

Theo frowned. "Well, I didn't expect that to happen."

"You're not Scott McCall," Ellie reminded him.

His eyes narrowed. "I'm well aware of that."

She realised that she was treading into dangerous territory and hastily backtracked. She didn't particularly want to get Theo angry. Although she'd only meant it in the sense that Scott was a true alpha whereas Theo had created his pack and didn't have the same level of power, it was obvious he had taken offense.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

"You're upset, and I get it." Theo shrugged his shoulders. "She's your best friend, and you're worried."

Ellie rubbed at the scar on her neck from where he'd marked her, glancing across at the others. Hayden and Corey seemed to be out for the night – probably hooking up with their respective other halves. Tracy had taken up Theo's controller and was now gaming with Josh. They seemed like such a normal group of friends that it was difficult to remember sometimes that they were monsters.

"You were fine with being cruel to her," Ellie said softly, "Not to mention Scott and the others."

"Sometimes we do what we have to," Theo said, making her examine him closely.

"What you have to, or what you want to?" She folded her arms over her chest. Like it or not, she'd come to know her boyfriend a lot better over these past few days. She wasn't exactly thrilled about what she was finding out. "Theo, I know you do bad things, and I know sometimes you enjoy them, okay?"

Theo hadn't needed to kill Scott, but he'd done it because – why? He felt threatened by him? Ellie wasn't certain that she knew the answer. All she knew was that her boyfriend was a darker person than she'd initially given him credit for. He did terrible things and she wasn't exactly sure how comfortable she was with that. She didn't know how long she could go on making excuses for him.

"I should get some pizza and head out."

"Stay," Theo insisted, "I'm sure your mum won't mind."

"They're not happy about the mark," Ellie said. She hadn't exactly expected them to be okay with it. It was a huge deal, but she was trying not to think about it. Theo didn't love her. He probably never would. It made the fact that he had marked her deeply concerning, both for her and her family.

"Maybe I should talk to them," he suggested.

"No." Ellie shook her head vigorously. "Definitely do not do that. They kinda don't like you."

"How long have we been together now?" Theo asked, raising his eyebrows. "Isn't it time I got to know them?"

"Because I'm your mate?" Ellie asked flatly. He was also putting a lot of emphasis on this, as if it meant they needed to stay together. As if they were something more than two teenagers in a relationship. She had to believe it was some kind of mistake, because the alternatives were troubling. Turning her mind from the topic, she changed the subject to one she knew he was uncomfortable with. "Why do you hate Scott so much?"

Theo considered it for a moment. "I envy him, I guess."

"Because of his pack, or his strength?" Ellie pressed. When he refused to respond, she heaved a sigh. "You have a pack now."

Sometimes, she wondered when it was going to end. Having found out that Scott was still alive, she was sure that Theo would still have some sort of twisted vendetta against him. Her boyfriend could make all the claims he wanted, but it was becoming apparent that the only thing he wanted was more power.

* * *

Jordan flicked through the sites on his laptop. The stress of everything going on was beginning to eat at him, not that he wanted to really admit it. Ever since his weird dreams had started he had been spending more time on his laptop or hunched over books trying to figure out exactly what was happening to him. He looked up as he heard the shower stop running, smiling at Bree as she wandered out into the kitchen. She had been spending most of her time with him, not that he was complaining. It was nice to come home and speak to someone who understood what he was going through to an extent.

"How are you doing?" He asked, not having had the chance when she first walked in the door from work. She had made a beeline for the shower, throwing a hello over her shoulder.

"I'm alright. You?" She kissed his cheek, getting herself a tea.

"Worried about everyone." He sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on.

"Still having the dreams about the Nemeton?" She queried as she squeezed his shoulder, placing a mug of coffee in front of him.

"Yeah, not to mention Lydia being in Eichen doesn't improve anything, especially not Tate's mood..." He trailed off with a groan. There was so much going on and it was beginning to weigh down on him. "How's Ellie been since she came home? I've been hearing stuff about the chimeras too."

"Theo marked her." She informed him as she sat down, crossing her legs.

Jordan frowned, not quite understanding what she was talking about. He was new to all of the supernatural stuff after all. "You're gonna have to explain that one. Is that good or bad?"

"Well, I'll explain it in Tate's wonderful words. It's like getting married with no ceremony." She shook her head, sipping at her tea.

He nodded slowly, taking the words in and fighting not to cringe. "That's intense. They're what, barely eighteen?"

"Mmhm." She nodded, rubbing her temples. "Now mum and dad are being crazy protective. Just her, and Tate somewhat. They know I'm usually at work or with you so they're not too fussed."

Jordan chuckled, pulling her into his lap. "Ah, the good child."

"No, just the one they don't worry about." Bree smiled, kissing his cheek. She had always been the one to avoid trouble.

"I've seen your mum around the station a bit, doing some investigating." He pointed out, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Bree nodded. It didn't surprise her that her mother had been there a lot. Once Lara started to work on something she put a lot of effort in. "Yeah, she's been super busy."

"Does your dad work? Or just...stay away from everything because of the demon wolf business?" Jordan asked. He had never really asked about what Deucalion did for a living before, and wasn't entirely sure how to approach the question.

"He brings in money somehow, but I don't ask.' She shrugged, running her hands down his chest.

"Tate says he works the pole, I'm assuming he's joking." He grinned at her.

"He is joking, though it wouldn't surprise me.' She muttered, raising an eyebrow as Jordan burst into a fit of laughter.

"I'm sorry, just...the mental image was too much." He managed to say through fits of laughter, pulling her closer to him, grinning at her.

Bree narrowed her eyes at the look he was giving her. "What?"

"Nothing." Jordan kissed her neck, smirking as she let out a soft moan. He ran his hands up her sides as she unbuttoned his chest, trailing her fingers down the toned flesh. "Still tired?" "Well, that depends." She smirked as he continued to kiss and mark her neck.

Jordan raised an eyebrow, running his hands under her shirt, thankful for her decision on not wearing a bra as he groped her breasts. Bras made it that bit harder to get to boobs. "On?"

Bree moaned loudly, letting her head fall back. "On whether we're gonna continue with this."

"I'd like to." He smirked, picking her up.

Bree couldn't help but laugh as he carried her into the bedroom. He was clearly eager and she wasn't complaining. "Well, then I'm definitely not tired."

* * *

Ellie stifled a yawn as she flipped the pancake over onto a plate. She didn't know why she tended to act like the mother hen when she was around the pack. It was especially weird since she was the youngest of her siblings, so it wasn't something that came naturally to her. She glanced at Theo as he sauntered into the kitchen. She pushed the plate toward him and let him help himself to maple syrup.

"Morning. So, what's the big plan?"

"What do you mean?" Theo glanced at her, apparently baffled.

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Uh, Beast of Gevaudan, psycho chimera running around the place…"

It was still a mystery to all of them who the Beast actually was. Ellie thought she'd like to try and solve the mystery, but she didn't think that was Theo's plan. His plan was likely to involve more violence. If it did, she wasn't sure she would be sticking with the pack. Scott and his pack didn't actively hurt people. She couldn't say the same for Theo.

"Oh, your dad."

"My dad…?" Ellie repeated, confused. After a moment's contemplation, she realised why Theo might want Deucalion. Her dad have an extensive knowledge of the supernatural, after all. "Because you think he'll know something you don't. He won't help you, Theo."

There was a dark glint in Theo's eyes. "I'll make him."

"Excuse me?" Ellie leaned against the bench, folding her arms. While she and her family didn't get on sometimes, she wasn't about to stand by and let Theo force them into helping him. "You will do no such thing."

"It won't be hard." He sounded triumphant. "I've got you and your siblings as leverage."

"You think I'm going to let you use me against my dad?" Ellie asked incredulously. Was that the real reason Theo was so insistent on her staying over with the pack, despite knowing how conflicted she was about everything? She felt a surge of anger, her hands clenching into fists.

"You won't have a choice," Theo's tone was smug and there was a smirk curving the corners of his lips like he'd already won. Whatever this was, there was no way Ellie was going to let Theo force Deucalion to give up information. Especially not when it sounded like he'd use her as incentive. Her fury reaching boiling point, Ellie's eyes flared purple as she slapped him across the face.

"It's not happening," she snapped. "I'm going to warn him."

"No, you aren't," Theo insisted, his expression darkening as she snatched her keys up off the bench. She rolled her eyes. If he really thought he could win her over this time, he was very much mistaken. She'd stood by and excused his actions for long enough. Ellie could see now that he was a bad person doing bad things, and she couldn't put up with that, not when it might endanger her family.

"You can't control me, Theo."

He grabbed her by the arm, spinning her around and slamming her against the wall hard enough to make her wince. Ellie was reminded of when he'd taken her phone off her and broken it in the school library. Maybe she'd been wrong to underestimate the lengths he was willing to go to. Theo gripped her arms tightly, making her yelp.

"You're not going to warn him."

She stared defiantly up at him. "Gonna keep me here against my will?"

"If I have to." Theo stared down at her and she was stuck by the coldness in his eyes. He didn't care about her, despite the fact that he'd marked her. Realising exactly what she was dealing with made Ellie take a deep breath, shoving his arms away.

"Well, we're done."

He raised his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Done. Over. I'm now your ex." Her voice was flat as she accepted the hard truth that Theo was more than just a bad boy – he was bad, full stop. There was nothing sexy or hot about it. He would destroy her family and not even bat an eyelid, and she wasn't here for that. She had her own sins, and she needed to atone for them. But at least she _wanted_ to make amends. She tried to push past him, but Theo's fist came out of nowhere, colliding with the side of her face and sending her spiralling into darkness.

* * *

Tate glanced at the door as he heard it swing open, letting out a puff of smoke. His expression changed from relaxed to concerned in a second as both Bree and Jordan wandered into the house. He liked Jordan, but he was also smoking weed and didn't know how the cop would feel about it. "Ah, shit.'

"Ew, Tate. It's 10am." Bree scowled as she dumped her duffle bag at the bottom of the steps for when she next went to her room.

"Tate, put the cigarette out, now." Lara ordered him as she poked her head around the corner from the kitchen to see who had entered the house.

"But mum…" Tate groaned as he continued to smoke, having realised Jordan either didn't care or was ignoring the smell of the drugs.

Bree grabbed a pillow, pelting it across the room at him. "It stinks."

"You're ondine too?" Jordan questioned as Lara sloshed water over Tate, effectively putting out the joint he was smoking.

"Sure am." She confirmed as Tate sat there spluttering before Bree froze the water on his face.

"Rude!" He exclaimed, clawing at the ice on his face as the other three vacated the lounge room and moved into the kitchen.

"Tate, behave or you can go to time out." Lara called over her shoulder before moving back to what she had been cooking. "You kids want something to eat?"

"I'm alright thanks Mrs Connor." Jordan smiled at her, sitting down on the one of the bar stools beside the bench.

Bree headed straight for the fridge, her stomach growling in protest of her not having eaten in a while. "I am starving.'

Lara frowned as she smelt smoke again, glancing back at the doorway into the lounge room. "Tate, if that cigarette doesn't go out in the next five seconds, your beloved record collection is going to mysteriously disappear."

"Mum, why can't I smoke? I study best when high." Tate complained to her while Bree shook her head, grabbing some cheese from the fridge.

"I'm not repeating myself." She snapped at him, her patience wearing thin. She waited for a few more moments before striding into the lounge room and grabbing the smoke, watering them down and throwing them in the bin, leaving her son to scowl on the lounge.

"When's dad gonna be home?" Bree asked through a mouthful of cheese.

"He's busy. Probably later tonight." Lara shrugged, raising an eyebrow. Bree didn't usual question the whereabouts of her father. "Why's that?"

"Just wondering." Bree smiled, stifling a yawn. She didn't see her father often and wanted to talk to him about everything going on.

"Are you always tired?" Lara had noticed that she had been yawning more and more as of late.

"No, just didn't sleep last night." She sighed heavily, glancing at Jordan who was now in deep conversation with Tate. "Just find it hard to sleep when I stay at his.'

"Because it's not your own bed?" Lara knew it was always hard to sleep in another person's bed when you were so used to your own. She had gone through it after all. She even struggled sometimes now with Deucalion coming and going.

"No, he keeps having the weird dreams." Bree explained, rubbing her arms.

Lara nodded, handing her daughter a mug of coffee. "I made some brownies earlier and there's ice cream in the freezer if you want to warm them up."

"Fuck yes." Bree grinned as she sipped at the coffee thankfully. The best part about coming home was coming home to food. "Jordan, brownies?"

"Yes please!" Tate called out, almost drowning out Jordan's response of a yes.

Lara shook her head, narrowing her eyes at her son. "None for Tate. He needs to learn not to smoke in the house."

* * *

Ellie hurled another book at the wall, absolutely incensed. Ever since she'd drifted back into consciousness about half an hour before and realised she was locked in Theo's bedroom, she'd gone into a rage. Not to mention the fact that her supernatural senses told her that she was no longer the only member of her family there – they'd managed to get Deucalion. The thought that Theo had probably threatened her to make him come quietly made her feel sick. The door opened and Theo strode in. Ellie snarled, her eyes flaring purple as she tackled him. He easily nudged her off, hauling her to her feet and slamming her against the wall for the second time that day.

"I know he's here," she hissed.

"Yes, he's here." Theo's fingers tightened around her shoulders, where she was already starting to bruise. "Behave, or I'll hurt him."

"Behave?" Ellie spat. Theo was treating her like she was a toddler throwing a tantrum, not a girl who was rightfully pissed about being held prisoner. She balled her hands into fists, resisting the temptation to lash out at him. "I am behaving. I'm not getting back together with you though, if that's 'behaving'. Now, can I go home? You got my dad."

"No." Theo shook his head. "We need you to make sure he stays in line."

Ellie was hurt and angry. It didn't even seem like she was a member of the pack anymore. She was just leverage to make sure that Deucalion cooperated. She unclenched her hands and the next thing she knew, when she held her hands open in Theo's direction, he was blasted against the opposite wall by an air current. The duvet on the bed and the curtains flapped, and Theo grunted as he eased himself up.

"Whoa." Ellie stared at her hands, unsure exactly what she'd done. Whatever it was, it was pretty damn cool. When she saw the rage in Theo's eyes, she swallowed hard. "I…I didn't mean to do that."

Theo stalked over to her and slapped her across the face. Ellie reeled back, raising a shaking hand to her cheek. She knew that Theo had a violence in him, but she hadn't anticipated he would lash out at her like that. She sniffed, on the verge of tears as she dropped her hand from her face.

"Bitch," he snapped.

"Maybe." A vicious smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "But at least I'm not your bitch."

Theo's eyes flared gold and he hit her again. This time, Ellie was anticipating the blow and she barely flinched. Despite the fact that her cheek was throbbing, she couldn't help but smirk up at him.

"Marking me doesn't mean shit."

"You're mine," Theo growled, making her clench her jaw. Teen movies always made it seem like it was really hot when guys said that, but it was just coming across as possessive and creepy. She didn't belong to anyone, least of all Theo.

"You clearly don't get a break-up."

"You don't get what a mark means," Theo insisted, as if him marking her meant she had to stick by him despite the fact that he was abusive and just an unhealthy person to be in a relationship with.

"Sure I do, I just refuse to be bonded in any way to a psychopath." Ellie offered him a saccharine smile. Theo's eyes narrowed and he looked like he wanted to lash out again. Instead he stalked over to the door, slamming it shut behind him. She heard the click of the lock and wished she had some kind of supernatural ability to unlock doors. Until then, she just had to hope her dad was doing okay.

* * *

Tate could hear his mother's voice from his room as she was talking to someone in a serious tone. He pushed himself off his bed and wandered down into the kitchen, his sensitive hearing picking up of the worry in her voice as he moved to the fridge. "Mum?"

"Yes?" Lara glanced at him as she hung up the phone, and Tate realised just how tired she looked. And stressed.

Tate leant against the kitchen counter, having poured himself some coffee. "You okay?"

"Your sister is missing again. Now your dad is too." Lara explained as she raked a hand through her hair. It wasn't like either of them to be behaving the way that they were.

Tate frowned. Last he had seen Ellie she had been going to see Theo, and he hadn't heard from her since. "Theo."

"Do you know something?" Lara raised an eyebrow. Any news was good news at this point if it gave them an indication as to where Ellie and Deucalion might be.

"She was going to see him and the others for pizza." Tate informed her, but Lara's expression made him realise she probably already knew that's where Ellie had gone.

Lara frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "She was meant to come home right after."

"Exactly, so clearly he kept her there." Tate shrugged. It was the best idea he could come up with. "Maybe they have dad too."

"A pack of teenagers took down the demon wolf?" Lara couldn't help but laugh at the thought. To her it seemed utterly ridiculous.

"If they had Ellie." They would've used Ellie as leverage to get him to cooperate. Deucalion may have been able to fight his way out, but Ellie was the furthest thing from a fighter. "What do we do?"

"Brianna!" Lara called out to her eldest daughter who was set up in the dining room studying. Bree popped her head around the doorway, raising an eyebrow.

"What is it?" She asked as she moved into the kitchen, a pen in her mouth as she fixed her messy hair.

"Your dad and sister are in trouble." Lara informed her, knowing that they were going to need all of them if they had any chance of getting the other two back unharmed.

Bree frowned, leaning against the counter beside Tate and taking the coffee cup from his hands. "What kind of trouble?"

"We think Theo has your sister and used her to get to your dad." Lara explained, glanced at Jordan who was now leaning in the doorway. She was beginning to get used to him being around.

"What do we do?" Tate asked, wanting to know where this was all leading to.

"Let me think on it. But we're definitely getting them back, and Tate I give you permission to beat the crap out of that Theo kid." Lara glanced pointedly at her son, who she knew was itching to sink his claws into Theo. "No killing."

"Alright, alright." Tate sighed, although he was still glad he had permission to rip into the other guy.

Lara glanced at the other two in the room, her eye's resting on Jordan. "I'm still debating on Jordan's usefulness."

"Yeah, I second that..." Jordan raked a hand through his hair. They still didn't know what he was capable of, or how his abilities were triggered.

Tate grinned at him. "Maybe we should poke him and see what happens."

"Tate!" Bree snapped at her brother, not appreciating him insulting her boyfriend. "You don't have to come."

"Once we figure out a plan, I'll see how I can help." Jordan smiled, leaning down and kissing her cheek.


	12. Prized Possessions

**Chapter Twelve: Prized Possessions**

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 **A/N: So it's been a little while since we updated and this is a bit shorter than usual. But rest assured, there's plenty of action on the way ;) Thank you so much as usual to everyone who puts in the time to leave a review, it's very much appreciated.**

* * *

"So, three of you against my dad." Ellie helped stitch the wound up on Tracy's side, ignoring the way the dark-haired girl grimaced. She knew that her stitches were lousy – after all, Tate was the one in the family who got injured and he healed way too quickly to merit them. Nonetheless Ellie persisted, mainly because she felt useless otherwise. Convincing Theo that she could help Tracy was the only reason he'd allowed her out of the room she called her prison.

She'd spent most of her time reading, frustrated that she only knew half of what she was. Half sylph, half what? She couldn't think of any other abilities that had surfaced, meaning her other half had to be much subtler than gusts of wind and wings.

"And it was still hard," Tracy admitted. It didn't really surprise Ellie. Even when he'd been blind, Deucalion had always been a fighter. However she did have to wonder at the fact that he had been captured, even when he'd been up against a bunch of teenagers. Something didn't quite add up there.

"He's tough for a middle-aged guy." Ellie finished the clumsy stitches, dabbing at the wounds with a Dettol-coated cotton wool ball. Tracy hissed at the sting, but made no attempt to brush the blonde away.

"Yeah, he really is."

"You don't heal like the others." Ellie gently brushed a strand of dark hair back so she could better inspect the wound on Tracy's shoulder. She was very aware of how close she was to the other girl, although Tracy was yet to complain about the proximity. "Not as fast."

"Is that bad?" Tracy asked, her eyes flicking up to meet Ellie's. Such beautiful dark eyes. Oh girl, Ellie chastised herself, you need to calm down. Yet those big eyes combined with the soft scent of Tracy's hair, whatever shampoo or conditioner she used, caused butterflies in Ellie's stomach.

"Nope, I'm the same." Ellie shook her head, indicating the yellowing bruise on her cheek from Theo. The more she thought about him, the more incensed she felt. How could she ever have thought they'd work?

"How did that happen?" Tracy's eyes widened at the bruise.

Ellie scoffed. "Our charming alpha."

"Oh," Tracy murmured. Ellie knew that, like Josh, Tracy followed Theo with a sort of dogged loyalty. Most likely because he'd brought them back from the dead. Ellie couldn't fault Tracy for that, or even Josh. Yet she was disillusioned with Theo's leadership and his goals, knowing her family would get into trouble with him.

"It's cool." Ellie shrugged. "I already knew he wasn't a great guy."

"He shouldn't have done that." Tracy reached out and touched the bruise with gentle fingers. The feeling of her soft touch made Ellie shiver. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You however…" Ellie frowned at the cuts on Tracy's face. She knew her dad had just been protecting himself, but she was annoyed at Theo for putting members of his pack in that kind of danger. Or was it just Tracy? Ellie was uncertain of how to feel, knowing she'd just broken up with Theo…yet there had always been some kind of chemistry between her and Tracy. So why ignore it?

It was Tracy who made the first move, leaning forward to press her lips to Ellie's. The blonde responded enthusiastically, running her fingers through Tracy's dark hair as she shifted closer. Tracy took Ellie's face in her hands, the kiss becoming heated and more passionate. Tracy's lips were so soft against Ellie's. She tasted like strawberry lip balm. Her kisses were a lot gentler and far less possessive than Theo's. After a few moments, Ellie drew back with some reluctance.

"We should probably get some dinner."

Tracy pouted. "But I'm happy here."

"I know, but I'm probably gonna get hauled off back to my prison soon," Ellie reminded her, pulling a face to indicate her displeasure at the idea.

"Maybe he'll let you stay with us for a bit," Tracy suggested, although neither of them really believed that. Ellie was a loose cannon, and Theo wasn't going to risk losing her. He had leverage over Deucalion and he needed to keep it.

* * *

Bree shifted around in the bed as she tried to get herself comfortable, kicking the blankets off. She rolled onto her side, cracking an eye open as she felt Jordan tossing around beside her. She had no doubt that was what had woken her initially, but she didn't understand why she was feeling so warm. She rubbed her eyes before looking over at him, frowning as he stopped tossing around only to sit up slowly.

"Jordan?" She glanced from him to her clock to see what time it read before looking back at him. "It's 2 am."

When he didn't respond, she let out a heavy sigh, rolling back onto her side. Both of them had had a few restless nights recently, especially with everything that was currently going on. Bree opted to stay at Jordan's because it was quieter and closer to work, but it also came with him having nightmares and her trying to get as much sleep as possible. She frowned when she felt the sheets get warmer, crying out and jumping out of the bed as she felt it burn her arm.

"Fucking hell! Jordan. Are you okay…?" Bree cursed, glancing at Jordan as he trailed from their room. She grabbed his arm, wincing at the heat and taking in his glowing orange eyes. She nudged him again, hoping to break the trance. When it didn't work she splashed water over him, watching as his eyes dimmed to their normal colour as he shook out his wet hair. 'You awake?"

Jordan looked around for a moment, clearly disorientated by what had just happened. "Yeah...sorry."

"You might need some new sheets, babe." Bree told him, rubbing his arm gently. She felt sorry for him, especially knowing there wasn't any real way she could help him.

"What happened?" He asked, raking a hand through his hair, watching as Bree moved over to dry it.

"You were in a trance and decided it would be fun to try and set the house on fire." She explained, kissing his cheek. She didn't want him to freak out – she didn't know what him freaking out might unleash.

Jordan glanced down at her, gripping her wrist and examining her palm. "You okay? Did I burn you?"

"It'll heal." She reminded him, gripping his hand in her own and leading him back into the bedroom.

"I need to be more careful." He muttered, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her close, burying his face in her hair.

"Of what?" Bree smiled, resting her hands over his.

Jordan flopped back onto the bed, pulling her down with him and holding her close to him, enjoying the feeling of her cool skin against his own. "Not burning things or people."

"Well, I heal. Quickly. So don't stress." She grinned, shifting so that she was facing him. "You'll learn to control it."

"I know. Eventually. This is all just new." He smiled tightly, stifling a yawn.

"We should go back to sleep. We both have early mornings." Bree suggested, snuggling up against him and wrapping her arms around him. "I love you."

Jordan smiled, kissing the top of her head and holding her tightly. "I love you too."

* * *

Ellie leaned against Tracy's shoulder, her eyes practically rolling back into another dimension as Theo rambled on about his grand plan to get into Eichen House and try and lure Jordan in. All she knew was that Eichen House was where Lydia was being kept, and she was determined to rescue her best friend. She yawned loudly to indicate her boredom, playing with Tracy's hair and wondering when Theo was going to wind up.

"Ellie isn't coming," Theo declared, making the blonde snap to attention.

"What?"

He glowered at her. "You heard me."

"Yeah, I did." Ellie tucked Tracy's hair behind her ear. "I'm just not really impressed."

"When did this happen?" Josh gestured between Ellie and Tracy, causing the blonde's attention to snap to him. She had the feeling that Josh was going to wish he'd kept his mouth shut in a few moments.

"A few nights ago," Tracy replied casually.

"Why's it bother you?" Ellie challenged, realising that Josh seemed to have an issue with her flirtations with Tracy.

"It doesn't, just…" Josh muttered something under his breath, something that Ellie didn't quite catch. She thought it'd be handy to have the same superior hearing as Tate sometimes.

"What was that?" Tracy demanded, her tone sharp.

"I said, Ellie gets around." Josh repeated what he'd muttered with clarity, his dark eyes narrowing in Ellie's direction. It had been obvious from the start that he didn't like her, even when she'd been with Theo. Now that their relationship had broken down and she and Tracy were starting to bond, Josh had no problem in making his opinion known. She folded her arms over her chest.

"Excuse me?"

"Josh." Theo's tone was ominous. "Don't."

"Sounds like someone still wants a ride…" Josh mumbled, although loudly enough for everyone present to hear him. Theo's jaw clenched and he stepped forward to punch the other boy in the face, clearly not appreciating the comment. Ellie raised her eyebrows coolly, wondering if there was anyone Theo _wasn't_ going to cause shit with.

"Can I just leave if I never get to do anything?" Ellie complained, heaving a dramatic sigh. She could act bored all she wanted, but the truth was that she was very concerned about her friends and family. She had no idea how they were doing, and knew Theo had no intention of telling her.

"Nope." Theo smirked at her irritation, which of course only made her angrier. "You're still a part of my pack, whether you want to be or not. I can't have you running off home and ruining anything I've got over Deucalion."

"Fuck you," Ellie snapped.

Theo laughed. "You have."

Ellie splayed her fingers and batted him against the wall with an air current. With not much to do of late, she'd had plenty of time to practise controlling her abilities. She was thoroughly enjoying the gusts of wind and air currents she could create, particularly when it meant tossing Theo around the place like a ragdoll. He'd soon learn she wasn't some helpless girl he could keep locked up. She smiled sweetly as he pushed himself up, wincing.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room, making no noise and pretending I don't exist."

"Ellie…" Theo followed her out of the lounge, ignoring her attempts to avoid him. It had been obvious since she'd dumped him that he really didn't get the fact that they were broken up. He alternated between resentment and desperate attempts to win her over, and she felt that right now she was in for the latter.

"Don't care, Theo."

"Listen to me." He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him, despite her efforts to pry him off. He pushed her against the wall, having absolutely no regard for her personal space and the fact that she didn't want to speak to him. "Listen!"

"Okay, okay, I'm listening."

"You keep acting like I'm the villain here." Theo's eyes softened as he examined her. "But surely you get I'm just trying to find a way to get rid of the Dread Doctors and the Beast as well."

"No, you want its power," Ellie reminded him, "It's not the same thing. You also hurt people in your little quest for that power."

She pushed him away from her. She was not interested in being manhandled. She wasn't interested in him in the slightest. The only thing that made this place bearable was Tracy. Hayden and Corey were alright, but Ellie could tell that they were also hesitant about everything. Theo's pack wasn't going to last very long if he couldn't gain their trust – and Ellie didn't think he would have hers ever again.

"You know, the mark…" Theo's eyes dropped to her neck and the mark he'd left there. He reached out to touch it, but she batted his hand aside.

"It means nothing." She shook her head vigorously. Yet despite the fact that they'd broken up and she wanted to hate Theo, she couldn't deny they still had a connection. Maybe the mark meant that they always would. She hated herself more than Theo, for the choices she'd made and the fact that she couldn't completely turn her back on him. The mark was serious business. She'd been fighting that fact, but it didn't change that it was reality.

* * *

Tate swung the door open as he heard the sharp knock, already knowing who their visitor was. "Hey."

Scott smiled, raking a hand through his hair. "Tate. Hi."

"Come in.' Tate moved aside so Scott could walk in. He'd been considering his offer to the other werewolf for a while. Tate currently didn't have a pack, and he needed one. And Scott was the best option he had, and he needed to act quickly with everything going on. He couldn't handle it alone, and he knew it.

Tate led Scott into the lounge room where Bree was set up studying, gnawing on the end of her pencil as she highlighted lines in the text book in front of her. She looked up when she heard the two men enter the room, smiling over at Scott. "Hey, Scott."

"Hi, Bree." Scott greeted her back before looking around the room, his eyes eventually going back to Tate. "So. What's up?"

"I wanna join your pack." Tate answered, not bothering to beat around the bush about it. He had nothing to hide, and his reasons were valid. "To help get my sister."

Scott nodded slowly, sitting down on the couch. "Oh. Is she with them?"

"With Theo and the others. They have dad too." Tate explained to him, sitting across from him and lighting a cigarette.

"Don't worry too much about your dad." Scott told him, glancing between the two siblings who gave him equally questioning looks. Of course they were going to worry, it was their father after all. "He and I kind of have something worked out."

Bree frowned at his words. It was the first time both her and Tate had heard of a plan of any kind, not that it surprised her. It was clearly a secret for a reason. "What do you mean?"

"We have a plan." Scott leant forward, resting his elbows on his knees. They knew he most likely couldn't tell them everything, but it wasn't going to stop them from wanting to know. "It's hard to explain. But Deucalion being captured is part of it. Ellie, not so much."

"Right…" Bree nodded slowly, glancing over at her brother.

"How do we help?" If he wasn't going to tell them, Tate wanted to at least know how he was going to be of use.

"Well, we're going to get Lydia out of Eichen." Scott explained to them, raking a hand through his hair. Tate noticed it was a nervous habit of his.

"How?" Bree had heard that Lydia was in Eichen, but she didn't realise they were already formulating a plan to get her out. It wasn't going to be an easy task.

"We're still figuring that part out." Scott admitted to them. "But we'll let you know once we have a plan."

Tate nodded, pleased with the answer. He wanted to be kept in the loop, especially with the matters concerning Lydia. "Good."

"Are you and Lydia...?" Scott trailed off, knowing that Tate would catch on what he was asking.

"Together?" Tate raised an eyebrow, leaning back as Scott nodded. "Yeah, we are."

* * *

Ellie paced her room like a caged animal, incensed that although Theo insisted she was part of the chimera pack, she'd been deliberately excluded from their trip to Eichen House. Exclusion was something Ellie had never much liked, even if she didn't believe Theo's pleas that he wanted the same thing as Scott and his pack. She'd been reading a book on mythology in an attempt to see if she could put together the puzzle pieces that were her other chimera half, but in the end it had only frustrated her further.

 _If you want something done, do it yourself._ It was Lara's voice in Ellie's mind, and she realised that one of her mother's most common phrases was right. She could sit here moping in her room about being left out, or she could get herself out. She was a goddamn _chimera_. She had the ability to save those she cared about, she just needed to fight for it. A sudden thought occurred to Ellie. The sixth sense that told her Deucalion was being kept in the Dread Doctor's lair even before she'd been told. Even before that, heading out to the preserve to find her iPod, instinctively _knowing_ that was where it was. She knew where things that were important to her were located.

 _Griffins are_ _known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions_ …

The words from the mythology book resonated with her and it clicked into place. Half-griffin. Her other chimera half was a griffin. She wondered why it had taken her so long to pick up on it. She really was a supernatural 'find my iPhone'…but when it came to things and people who meant something special to her.

Closing her eyes, Ellie took a deep breath and concentrated. She could remember when Tate had been little and struggled to control his werewolf tendencies. Deucalion had always said breathing and taking a moment to centre yourself was key, and Ellie thought the same might apply to her own abilities. She drew in the air around her, as little as there was in the stuffy room. She gathered it to her carefully, like trying to cup water in her hands. Then she pushed her hands forward, directing the air in a single jet toward the window. The current hit with the force of a hurricane, smashing the glass.

Ellie threw her arms over her face, shielding herself from the glass shards as they scattered around her. When she looked at the damage she'd done, she couldn't help but feel proud of herself. The window had been completely smashed to pieces. It made Ellie realise she wasn't as weak as she constantly felt. She was powerful. She was strong. She just had to remember that sometimes.

Feeling a renewed sense of confidence, Ellie tossed a blanket over the glass shards in the frame to prevent them from cutting her and stepped onto the ledge, peering down. It was just grass beneath her, and only a storey down. Pushing aside any sense of doubt, Ellie unfurled her wings and jumped.


	13. House of Horrors

**Chapter Thirteen: House of Horrors**

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 **A/N: What's this? An update, right before Christmas? There's a lot to come in the next few chapters. Honestly a huge thank you to those of you who constantly review and show support for this story, you know who you are and it's much appreciated.**

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By the time Ellie arrived at Eichen House, it was already chaotic. Orderlies were rushing around the place and it took only a few smashed windows for her to get inside. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to hone her supernatural senses. She could find her friends if she concentrated. Her eyes snapped open when she realised there was an additional presence within Eichen House. She had anticipated Scott and the rest of his pack coming to save Lydia, but she hadn't counted on…

"Tate," she whispered.

Breaking into a sprint, Ellie weaved her way through the corridors of the institution. Her number one goal was finding Lydia. Despite her brother being here too, she could only assume that Tate had teamed up with Scott in an effort to help. Realising that her best friend was with Theo and the others, she made a beeline for their location. The fact that she could tell where they were, even if they were moving, kind of spooked her. Although she somehow doubted that anything could creep her out more than Eichen House.

Turning the corner, she found herself coming face to face with the chimera pack. The mountain ash in the building didn't impact on them like it would on the others, including Scott and Tate. Tracy's eyes widened at the sight of her, while Corey and Josh exchanged panicked looks. They'd been counting on a lot of things, but Ellie wasn't one of them.

"Let Lydia go." Ellie ground out the words through clenched teeth. It was Theo's fault that Lydia was even here in the first place, and she couldn't forgive him for rendering her best friend catatonic. Theo sighed heavily as he examined the tiny blonde. Her entire body was taut, wings spread out behind her and eyes burning bright purple. Whatever he'd anticipated at Eichen House, whatever issues he and Ellie had, he hadn't thought she might turn against him.

"Ellie, we shouldn't fight."

"No," Ellie's eyes glittered with something dangerous, and a gust of wind whipped her hair around her face as it came whistling down the narrow corridor. "We should."

Tracy glanced between Theo and Ellie, uncertain. Ellie felt sorry for her, knowing she hadn't wanted to force Tracy to choose between them. Josh showed less reluctance, baring sharp teeth and snarling as he charged at Ellie. She watched him come before throwing out an arm, batting him against the wall with a strong gust of air. Tracy took a few steps backward, obviously still not wanting to intervene.

"I don't want to have to hurt you." Theo's tone was firm, a dark gleam in his eyes. "But I will if I have to. You're in the way, Ellie."

"I'm not letting you take Lydia," she snapped.

Theo raised his eyebrows. "Whoever said we're here for the banshee?"

The question made Ellie hesitate, and that hesitation was all Theo needed. He lunged at her with a snarl, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her off her feet. The blonde choked and clawed at his hand, infuriated by the smirk that crossed his lips. She flapped her wings and kicked at him, but his grip never faltered. Ellie's vision started to spin and her grip on her magic faltered as she was deprived of air.

A low growling made Theo glance around, before he dropped Ellie. The blonde collapsed on her knees, gasping for oxygen. When she looked for the source of the interruption, she saw Jordan in full hellhound mode at the barred gate, burning through the metal with ease. The gate dropped with a clang as he advanced on the chimera pack. Theo dragged Lydia out into the corridor and held her in front of him, the tips of his claws digging into her neck. Ellie attempted to lunge at him, but Josh easily grabbed both of her wrists and held her back.

"Back off," Theo warned. When Jordan didn't stop, Theo dug his nails in more, making Lydia's mouth open in a wide soundless 'O' and Ellie struggle to break free of Josh's hold. She was furious that Theo was hurting her best friend. "I said back off."

"Yeah, I don't think he's listening," Ellie pointed out. Her sister's boyfriend had a habit of going all hellhound mode and if even Bree couldn't manage to get through to him in that state, she highly doubted Theo could.

"Take him," Theo snapped, obviously losing patience.

"The guy's on fire," Corey protested, and Ellie privately had to agree – she wouldn't have tried to take Jordan on if Theo paid her.

"You'll heal, do it," Theo commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Ellie examined the boys, who looked nervous at the prospect of going at Jordan. Tracy certainly wasn't – after a quick glance at her fellow pack members and realising they were hesitant to act, her eyes went amber and she snarled as she charged at the hellhound. Some older guy on the ground – who Ellie hadn't even noticed and who she assumed to be Dr Valack – scampered from the corridor. Her gaze was concentrated on Tracy, though. The one member of the chimera pack who hadn't hesitated.

"That's my girl," Ellie murmured.

It didn't last long – Tracy stabbed Jordan with her kanima claws but it barely seemed to phase the hellhound, because he batted her against a wall and she collapsed. Josh went up next, tossing Ellie aside and slashing through some power cables, attempting to use the electricity against Jordan. Again it didn't work well, and Josh was the next pack member to get thrown against a wall.

The high-pitched sound of a drill made Ellie grimace and Theo's yell of pain made her realise that Dr Valack had stabbed him in the leg with an active drill. He then hit him in the head with it, making the chimera collapse with a grunt. When the doctor hauled Lydia up and started carting her from the hallway, Ellie gritted her teeth and stepped between him and the doorway.

"Going somewhere?"

"Elizabeth." Dr Valack's eyes lit up at the sight of her, and made her feel instantly unnerved that he was gleeful rather than apprehensive. "What a magnificent creature you are. A Dread Doctor success. Unfortunately, not the one they were hoping for. Not the Beast."

A scream of pain made her whip around to see that Corey had attempted to go at Jordan, only for the hellhound to set him ablaze. Jordan threw the burning teenager toward them. Dr Valack managed to haul Lydia out of the way, but unfortunately Ellie wasn't so lucky, and she cannoned into someone else as Corey collided with her. She grunted as she hit the cold ground.

"Supernatural reflexes, what bullshit…"

"Ellie?" The familiar voice made her look beside her as she eased herself up. It had been Stiles she'd fallen into. She couldn't help but sigh in relief, pleased that she'd found someone she knew and who wasn't an enemy. When she glanced around wildly for Lydia and Dr Valack, she was frustrated to realise they'd disappeared. Just great.

"Stiles? Where's Tate?"

"Speak of the devil." An outstretched hand gripped Ellie's and hauled her to her feet and she found herself looking at her older brother's wry smile. "And he shall appear."

Ellie threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him. She had missed her family so much. She hadn't believed it was possible she could miss Tate and his annoying antics, but she was proud of him for teaming up with Scott. She was pleased that he'd come to Eichen House, because it meant he really did care about Lydia. She'd spent so much time rolling her eyes and second-guessing Tate's interest in her, but he wouldn't be here if she wasn't important to him.

"Come on, kiddo." Tate ruffled Ellie's blonde hair, an action that usually made her scowl and slap his hands away but that now caused her to smile. "Let's go get Lydia back."

"Wait." Stiles was frowning suspiciously at Tate. "How did you get past the mountain ash? You aren't a chimera, you're a werewolf."

"Followed the man on fire." Tate jerked a thumb toward the corridor that Jordan had come in through, before winking and tapping the side of his head. "He burns the mountain ash away. You thought I was just a pretty face, huh?"

Stiles headed toward the door that Valack and Lydia had disappeared through, gripping the handle and tugging at it. Tate watched with an amused expression, folding his arms over his chest and grinning. Ellie threw him a meaningful look, knowing fully well that Tate had the strength to batter down the door if he needed to. With a dramatic sigh, Tate pried Stiles out of the way.

"Dude, chill." Shoving his full body weight against the door and gritting his teeth, Tate managed to force the door open. As Ellie and Stiles peered through to the darkness beyond, he stepped back and bowed. "Voila."

"You're not gonna find her without me." A familiar voice made the trio spin around to see Theo, who had quickly recovered from the hole that Valack had drilled into his leg. Ellie's eyes narrowed, but it was Tate who acted first. A low growl rising up from his throat, the werewolf lunged, punching Theo in the face hard enough to make him stagger.

"Little shit," he snarled.

"Whoa, Tate." Ellie placed a hand on her brother's shoulder. As much as she was all for Tate beating Theo to a bloody pulp, she had to admit that it wouldn't be the most productive move right now. She glanced through into the corridor, pleased to see that Tracy was dazed but ultimately okay.

"Fighting isn't going to solve anything." Theo glowered at Tate, watching as the older boy seethed. "We both want the same thing."

"Funny," Tate's voice was calm, but his blue eyes were still burning with anger. "Didn't realise you wanted you dead too."

Shrugging Ellie's hand off, he marched into the corridor, closely followed by Stiles. With one last glare in Theo's direction, Ellie pursued them, knowing Theo would come no matter if they wanted him to or not.

"I've got her scent," Theo insisted.

"You realise you're talking to a werewolf, right?" Tate asked, rolling his eyes practically back into another dimension at the idea that Theo might actually be helpful.

"Plus someone who's part griffin," Ellie piped up, secretly thrilled that she had the chance to casually bring up the fact she'd discovered her other chimera half. The confession was met with quizzical looks from all three boys. "Griffin. Just…think of me as a human GPS. I can sense where people who are important to me are."

"Alright then." Tate nodded slowly, before reluctantly motioning to Theo. "Yo, scumbag. You can come with us but if I get even the slightest whiff of betrayal, I'm kicking your ass, got it?"

* * *

Tate had to admit that he'd had a lot of adventures in his life. Most of them had been when he was high. Right now, he wished he was high, rather than having to deal with his little sister's psychotic ex-boyfriend trailing along after them in their quest to find Lydia. So much for having her scent, the kid was absolutely useless. In fact, if Ellie the newly proclaimed supernatural GPS system wasn't with them, they would probably be incredibly lost.

"So much for her scent, huh Theo?" Tate threw the younger boy a smug look.

"All I can smell is chemical and faecal matter." Stiles sighed heavily, looking at Theo as well. "Although I'm pretty sure the faecal matter is you."

"Oh, _burn_!" Tate exclaimed in delight, high-fiving Stiles and not even attempting to suppress his delight at the savage roasting. Anyone who was happy to throw Theo under the bus was immediately his new best friend.

"Can you all please shut up?" Ellie glanced over her shoulder at them, looking incredibly pissed off. "I'm trying to find Lydia and I can here is you bickering."

"Thank you, Ellie." Theo sounded genuinely grateful, but Tate didn't think there was the slightest thing genuine about the kid.

Ellie threw him a withering look. "I have to agree though, you are a piece of shit."

Tate had to try his hardest not to laugh at the scandalised expression on Theo's face. What else had been expecting from the girl he'd become obsessed with, marked and then later abducted? He wondered if he might be able to bury Theo alive down here somewhere. It was a very tempting prospect.

A scream resonated all around them, making Tate tense. There could be no denying that it was Lydia and he looked toward Ellie. The blonde knew where she was going, or at least, Tate hoped that she did. He felt a weird sense of pride in his little sister. Her powers had grown within the past few weeks, or maybe she'd just learned how to master them. Either way, Ellie was becoming quite formidable, and he really hoped Theo knew that.

"This way." Ellie led them down another corridor, breaking into a run as she threw herself at double steel doors. It was kind of amusing, watching someone that small try and break down anything really. Theo brushed her aside and began hammering at the door himself, but even he couldn't break it down. Ellie and Stiles shared concerned looks, and Tate shoved Theo out of the way.

"Honestly, _useless_."

A piercing scream made all of them cringe, covering their ears. Tate renewed his efforts on the door, becoming desperate. He and Lydia might not be an official couple or anything, but he was serious about wanting to try and have a relationship with her, and he sure as hell couldn't do that if she was dead. Breaking the door open, Tate charged across the room, ignoring Valack's partially headless corpse and focusing his attention on Lydia.

The redhead was pale and covered in a sheen of sweat, and he felt anger toward the hole that had been drilled in her head. Clenching his jaw, he reached out with tender fingers and swept her hair gently back from her face. The whole reason he'd agreed to join forces with Scott was because of Lydia, and he'd be damned if he was going to let anything happen to her now.

"You can't be here." Lydia's voice was faint but firm as Tate scooped her up. "It's too dangerous."

"You're not the boss of me." Tate offered her a grim smile. "I'm taking you to Dr Deaton. We're going to make you better. I promise."

* * *

"Is there some kind of party here I don't know about?" Bree jumped as she heard Jordan's voice come from the doorway. She'd been so wrapped up in the song she was listening to and her cleaning that she hadn't noticed him walk into the apartment. She placed a hand to her chest, feeling the hammering of her heart under her fingertips as she did.

She reached over to turn the music down before glancing over at him, a small smile on her lips. "Hey."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." Jordan apologised as he dumped his keys, wandering into the kitchen where she had been previously dancing around.

'It's fine." She assured him, leaning against the bench. Jordan sat down heavily in one of the chairs by the dining table, and Bree could tell his day had been long and stressful just by his body language. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just...a lot has happened in the past few days." Jordan sighed, raking a hand through his hair.

Bree had to admit she hadn't been paying much attention to what had been happening around her. She was caught up in work and study, and had never been overly involved with Scott and the others. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was that she felt she would be of no use to them. "Like what?"

"Well, all the stuff at Eichen House." He answered, smiling up at her as she handed him a cup of coffee. It had become somewhat of a routine for her to hand him some coffee and listen to his day. "We went to rescue Lydia."

Bree nodded slowly. She had heard that Lydia had been taken, and knew Tate was working hard to get her back safely, but she hadn't realised just how involved Jordan had been with all of it as well. "And what happened? Why are you so run down and stressed?"

"I went into hellhound mode." It was something that still frightened him. He'd be lying to himself to say otherwise, and they both knew that. Bree had grown up knowing what she was, but she couldn't imagine how hard it was for Jordan right now.

"How was that?" She queried as she sipped her own mug of coffee.

"It went alright." He shrugged. It was still a foreign feeling, and he knew it was going to take some time and training until he was comfortable with it. "I stopped her from pretty much killing everyone with her scream. Both of your siblings helped. Well, Tate did sort of."

"Is that it?" She pressed, wanting to make sure she had all of the information she needed to form and idea of what had happened.

"That's mainly it." He leant back in the chair, finishing the cup of coffee in his hand.

Bree nodded, taking his cup and placing it in the sink. "Anything I can do to help?"

"I think I'm alright now. I guess I just don't know what my role in all of this is." He raked a hand down his face, letting out a long sigh.

Bree kissed his cheek, running a hand through his hair. "Right now you need sleep."

"No, I don't, I'm fine." He assured her, pulling her into his lap and resting his hands on her hips.

"Alright." She smiled, running her fingers over his chest, toying with the buttons of his shirt. "What do you want then?"

He shrugged, watching as she undid the top button of his shirt. "Just to rest."

"Well, as much as I love you uniform, it should probably come off." She grinned down at him, continuing to undo the buttons of his shirt as he raised his eyebrows at her. "What's that look for?"

"Why do you want me to take it off?" He questioned, not that he was complaining. Her hands were cool against his warm skin. It was a soothing feeling, and it was most welcome after the day he had had.

"You look better without it." She stated simply, pushing it off of his shoulders. She was sure she could think of a few ways to relax, and she was hoping at least one of them would work.


End file.
